[3.5 Prestige Class] Sacrier

[Apollo1776]

From those of you familiar with Dofus and Wakfu... Yes this is based on that idea.

I was flipping through the Complete Warrior and found a book that had only a few pages of real worth. Many of the classes are completely broken and useless. My favorite class out of there is FB, which when I thought about it, it was really the only barb prestige worth taking out of the book. So I hope to keep the spirit of a REAL man's class.

Sacrier

A Sacrier lives for the thrill of battle, but what's more, he is finds pleasure in pain. Despite this masochistic principle, the Sacriers have an intriguing philosophy. Instead of getting weaker from pain, they use it as a source of strength. The closer they are to death, the more powerful they become. This backwards progression makes killing a Sacrier a difficult task.

Requirements: BAB +10, Rage class ability, Great Fortitude, Diehard, 100 HP.

Restrictions: no lawful alignment, cannot wear armor or use protective equipment.

HD: 2d8



Masochism: For every 10 points of damage received, a Sacrier gains a +2 bonus on his attacks on his turn. This bonus increases to +4 at level 5, and +6 at level 10.

Bloodletting: A Sacrier can trade HP for damage in a 1:1 ratio up to a number HP equal to 4 x (Sacrier level). This can be used at will as a free action on any successful attack. Usable once per round.

Fury: For every 2 x (character level + con modifier) hit points lost (in fury), the Sacrier advances down a exponential growth track (2^x, where x is the step) bonus for str.

0: +1 str
1: +2 str
2: +4 str
3: +8 str
4: +16 str
5: +32 str
etc...

While in fury the Sacrier suffers -2^x damage per turn, sending him spiraling down the track further and make him exponentially more powerful in a vicious cycle. Fury lasts for 3 + (con modifier) rounds, on a successful will save DC 10 + 2x, or until the Sacrier's hit points are reduced to 0 or below. Usable once per week. At level six this increases to 2, and at level nine it increases to 3. A Sacrier cannot be healed while in fury.

Tenacious: A Sacrier remains conscious after having his hit points reduced below 0. Also, he becomes immune to dying from massive damage.

Deathless: A Sacrier will not die until his hit points are reduced below -[10 + 10 x (con modifier)].

Surpassing Limits: Once reduced below 0 hit points a Sacrier can either take a move action up to base speed or make a single attack.


So there it is, it is pretty rough. I haven't play tested it so I don't know how well it works, especially the fury ability. I'm considering adding in fast healing at level 10 if Surpassing Limits isn't big enough of a cap. I realize I'm exceeding the accepted values of HD, but this class is based off of HP, it needs more than anyone else, plus they don't wear any armor, so they have low ACs (but is that really a bad thing?).

I guess what I wanted to capture with this is making characters that have a backwards combat style. They rush into battle and dive in harder the more injured they become, and try to get hit. Basically a nightmare to fight on the battlefield. Also, this makes rolling a one and accidentally slashing yourself a good thing.

[ForzaFiori]

It looks pretty good. The only things I can see that may cause some difficulties is the 2d8 HD (Nothing uses two dice for a hit die. Why not just have it be 1d12 like a barb?) and the sub-poor reflex save (typically, making up your own progressions is looked down on around here. especially when it gives you all of a +1 over ten levels.).

Also, I'm not entirely sure how the "fury" feature works. Could you explain a little clearer please?

[Mongoose87]

I hope you buy a rod of True Resurrection for your Cleric.

[Apollo1776]

It looks pretty good. The only things I can see that may cause some difficulties is the 2d8 HD (Nothing uses two dice for a hit die. Why not just have it be 1d12 like a barb?) and the sub-poor reflex save (typically, making up your own progressions is looked down on around here. especially when it gives you all of a +1 over ten levels.).

I felt a d12 just wasn't enough. These guys are going to get hit, and going to get hit a lot. Barbs do that too though. But the abilities actually drain hp, so the extra will help with that.

I had to take a lot of liberties with the saves because the class is basically all about fortitude. If you think about it, it makes sense, and works. They're basically meatbags that hit back. A Sacrier is built around taking damage, and as such have a huge stamina to resist attacks. It would of course translate over to other fortitude related things. They have a terrible reflex because again, they take damage. Dodging is shunned. Plus this class has to have some balance to it or else it'd just be OP.

Also, I'm not entirely sure how the "fury" feature works. Could you explain a little clearer please?

Okay, so say you fly into fury. Because you have taken no damage thus far you're at step zero on the growth track. This means you get +1 to str, but take 1 damage per round. A small bonus, it is more the anticipation of the pain to come is causing a buff. Then after you receive a substantial amount of damage (like for a level 10 character with 18 con it would be 28 damage) you move a step down the track. You're now at step 1. This means you get +2 to str and 2 damage per round. Not really significant now, a +1 to hit and +1 to damage... Pretty piss poor.

It is after you take huge amounts of damage that fury shines. You take a couple more hits and let's say you've now reached step 4 of the track. You gain +16 str and take 16 damage per round... Let's say this -16 causes you to move another step down the track. You've now got +32 to str, enough to pretty much obliterate anything in your path. But the downside is that you're fading. While you're gaining power at a massive rate, you're probably almost dead at this point. The damage at the end of the round is going to push you onto step 6. +64 str is nothing to sneeze at, but chances are that 64 damage earned at the end of the round will kill you. So you roll a will save to try to come out of it. The DC is 10 + 2 times the track level. At level 6 you've got to make a 22 DC. If you make it you're out of fury, and probably extremely damaged. Hopefully whatever it was you were killing is dead.

I see this ability apart from the whole rage barbarian thing. Every engagement a barb pretty much flies into rage. Which makes sense. Why wouldn't you fly into rage in a fight? Extra power with negatives that don't matter so much. But with fury it is a dangerous gamble of life for power. It makes fury only to be used in desperate situations or important battles - a kind of class feature that keeps the class fresh. When you fly into fury you're going to enjoy it - just as the Sacrier would. It won't lose its fun because it is high-risk and because it is only used once in a while. Where rage is just another special ability, fury is a trump card.

The reason for the will-save to come out is for balance, and because as the Sacrier descends further, he is becoming more and more entralled by pain and less aware what is around him. He is more careless as he pushes his body harder and harder, causing it damage that just makes him enjoy it more.

I hope you buy a rod of True Resurrection for your Cleric.

If he dies too much during play testing I'll probably amp up the Deathless special ability and give it earlier on. And possibly include fast healing.

[Lix Lorn]

Do you add your constitution modifier to both dice, or just to one?

[Apollo1776]

Do you add your constitution modifier to both dice, or just to one?

That's actually an interesting question. I'm going to say once. Though I may add a progression that allows you to double the con modifier when rolling for hp. Depends on how the play test goes.

The character is already made. Ronan the Sacrier

[Lix Lorn]

I look forward to hearing, and glad to help!

[Apollo1776]

Yeah, I fixed the link.

I'm liking what I see with this character. In just 3 levels he gained 43 HP, which is something I don't think I'm as pleased with.

I do see some very good combinations available to this class. This class actually has a very good use for Power Attack since Masochism will be granting the extra attack bonus to spend. There is also a reason I picked the fullblade. It is the perfect weapon for this class. High damage and requires two hands.

With Fury, Greater Rage, and Great Cleave going, Ronan will essentially becoming a killing machine. Rage works in synergy with the Sacrier as well. By decreasing his AC it likens the chance that he will get hit and thus makes him more powerful, the extra con will be a huge boost for HP to burn. I could see a Barb / Sacrier / FB kicking some major ass.

And look at that fort save. Holy crap. The only way he could fail dying from massive damage is to roll a 1 (which becomes irrelevant at level 4).

[Lix Lorn]

Maybe 2d6? Only marginally better than 1d12.

[Apollo1776]

Maybe 2d6? Only marginally better than 1d12.

Oh no, quite the opposite, I'm wondering if it is enough. 40 hit points at that level can be gone rather quickly, especially if you're the one being pommeled.

[Lix Lorn]

oh. XD
Well, you could let the con modifier apply double, or boost to 2d10, or 1d20, or even 2d12.

[DracoDei]

Ok, the 2d8 thing is an interesting direction, and one I had considered before. The one things you need to explicitly specify is if that counts at 1 die or 2 for purposes of spells and other effects that are limited by hit-dice. Either way could work, but you need to specify explicitly. Applying Con. Bonus twice could be fine... Incidently, have you ever looked at the class abilities (NOT maneuvers) of the Crusader? It has something like this...

[Apollo1776]

Ok, the 2d8 thing is an interesting direction, and one I had considered before. The one things you need to explicitly specify is if that counts at 1 die or 2 for purposes of spells and other effects that are limited by hit-dice. Either way could work, but you need to specify explicitly. Applying Con. Bonus twice could be fine... Incidently, have you ever looked at the class abilities (NOT maneuvers) of the Crusader? It has something like this...

Yeah, this is really rough stuff here. Once I finalize it I can add fluff, fix some things (no skills ftw! It will be same as barb though). And use my graphic experience to come up with something nifty looking. I mean, I'm posting it here largely to get input, but also for the rest of you guys, and because I love creating things.

I absolutely adore the ToB. It has classes that don't suck. The best D&D 3.5 book for warriors. I just want to expand the classes for stuff so that people have a selection of stuff that are fun to play and can kick ass. There are many many classes, but only 10% of them are worth taking (Exotic Weapon Master? Really?). This limits what people really want.

I'll probably add some other stuff in there as well at the lower levels to encourage it with level dipping. It'll probably go something like this:

Ex-Sacriers: Many warriors follow the Sacrier path to become better warriors, but do not pursue it to its full potential. If a Sacrier ever willfully dons armor, uses protective equipment, or cower to avoid taking damage, he can no longer follow the path of the Sacrier. He loses the Bloodletting, Masochism, and Fury abilities. A level 10 Sacrier has completed the path, and transgressing the restrictions is a serious offense. If he does he immediately loses all abilities granted by the class.

With this, warriors who wear armor can level-dip, grab the awesome fort. save and grab the Tenacious and Deathless abilities (I'll add more that make the level-dip worth it). With these restrictions though, I'll be able to amp up and add more abilities and still keep it balanced (like having 2d12 HP, because you're not allowed to shun away from pain). Possibly being able to use the Shield Other spell as a super-natural ability and at will. Also, with the full commitment of a level 10 Sacrier, I'll most likely end up adding another class capping ability.