Is there a "fumble" class?

[TechnOkami]

Amongst my group of RPGer's, we have a particular person who, consistently, fumbles. It doesn't matter what or whose dice he's using, he will more or less get poor rolls and more than likely, fumble. That said, is there a Homebrew which works off of getting fumbles rather than crits, or something which uses unluckiness as its source of power?

Play on little Giants, play on.

[Jarrick]

I seem to remember a homebrew class on Community 3e way back in the day that was called the Clod. It fits the flavor, but not the Fail=good mechanic you're looking for. IIRC it actually awards you for having low mental stats.

Edit: The PDF for which can be downloaded Here.

This would be an interesting project though... a class that does amazing things when it fumbles but only mediocre things when it succeeds. Kinda like Daphne from Scooby Doo.

[Glimbur]

If you take a couple of [Luck] feats from complete scoundrel there's one that turns natural 1's into natural 20's. I find them kind of underpowered due to the limited uses per day... a quick and dirty houserule is to make luck rerolls per encounter instead.

[TechnOkami]

This would be an interesting project though... a class that does amazing things when it fumbles but only mediocre things when it succeeds. Kinda like Daphne from Scooby Doo.

Though wouldn't it be kind of broken if you never could fumble again?

[Jarrick]

Well, you could make it so what counts as a fumble increases based on level. 1 at first, 1-2 at 4th, 1-3 at 7th and so on or some such.

Make fumbling do cool randomly determined effects. For example:
"you swing your sword and miss horribly, the resounding clang of your weapon hitting the ground deafens the target creature and stuns it for one round"

[Temotei]

Though wouldn't it be kind of broken if you never could fumble again?

Not really. Since you need to confirm the fumble every time you do roll that natural 1, the chances of actually fumbling are tiny. Like, 1/400.

[Jarrick]

Not really. Since you need to confirm the fumble every time you do roll that natural 1, the chances of actually fumbling are tiny. Like, 1/400.

Eh, that confirmation could be lifted by the class though. You know, since they're so good at fumbling they do it automatically.

Never fumbling again is the payoff for having, say, the fighter's base attack bonus and nothing else?

Of course if that's still a problem, you could give them a chance (1-5 on the D% determined when rolling to see what fumble they get) that they actually fumble.

[DracoDei]

For a different feel, try this:
Every time the character fumbles, they get a Balance of Fortune point. For every Balance of Fortune point they have, one number down from 20 is counted as a natural 20... so with one, 19s count as 20s, with 2 18s and 19s count as natural 20s, with 3 Balance of Fortune points 17-20 all count as if a 20 had come up on the die, and etc. Every time this converts a number to a 20 (so not on truly natural 20s), the character loses a Balance of Fortune point. Use of this ability is not optional.

[Jarrick]

That's simple enough that it could just be a feat. Good idea.

[Temotei]

That's simple enough that it could just be a feat. Good idea.

It could even be a spell.

[Xefas]

I drew up the outline of a "Patheticist" Warlock variant/batch of Invocations a long while ago. The gist was that it gained power from negative ability modifiers (i.e. it could use a 6 Intelligence to formulate a plan so profoundly stupid that no one would ever see it coming, and thus it ends up a wild success, or use a 6 Dexterity to miss by such a hilarious margin that it has some other debilitating effect), as well as its ability scores degrading over time. 20s still counted as auto-successes, but getting them would actually weaken their powers for a short time, whereas 1s gave them a Boost of Failure. Eventually, they could augment their Eldritch Blasts to share their patheticness with people it struck, or turn their Eldritch Blast into a constant Aura of Fail around them, which turned everyone that came within a certain radius into introverted weak oafish morons (including themselves, of course).

I didn't get very far with it, but it's an idea if you needed one.

[Ziegander]

Well, I don't know the player, but I will assume he doesn't want to be insulted with a [haha, you roll a lot of 1s, so here's a class that rewards you for being stupid and is themed around you being a total buffoon with hilarious, but beneficial blunders] class.

It would be more interesting, in my opinion, to create a serious class, themed around fate manipulation that actively turns blunders into benefits by warping reality with their will!

The Fateblade

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d10

{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+1|+0|+0|+2|Reins of Fate 1/day, Balance the Scales

2nd|+2|+0|+0|+3|Foresight

3rd|+3|+1|+1|+3|Fateful Aura

4th|+4|+1|+1|+4|Reins of Fate 2/day

5th|+5|+1|+1|+4|Improved Foresight

6th|+6/+1|+2|+2|+5|Fateshackle 1/day

7th|+7/+2|+2|+2|+5|Know Vulnerabilities

8th|+8/+3|+2|+2|+6|Reins of Fate 3/day

9th|+9/+4|+3|+3|+6|Portent

10th|+10/+5|+3|+3|+7|Fateshackle 2/day

11th|+11/+6/+1|+3|+3|+7|Know the Path, Fate Driver

12th|+12/+7/+2|+4|+4|+8|Reins of Fate 4/day

13th|+13/+8/+3|+4|+4|+8|Footsteps of Doom

14th|+14/+9/+4|+4|+4|+9|Fateshackle 3/day

15th|+15/+10/+5|+5|+5|+9|Fatesight

16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+5|+5|+10|Reins of Fate 5/day

17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+10|Reveal Location

18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+6|+6|+11|Fateshackle 4/day

19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+6|+6|+11|True Foresight

20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+6|+6|+12|Fatelord, Reins of Fate 6/day

[/table]

Class Skills (6 + Int modifier): Appraise, Autohypnosis, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (any), Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Use Magic Device.

Proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, no shields.

Balance the Scales (Ex): Fateblades are not soldiers of fortune, they are mercenaries of chance. They do not allow themselves to be governed by the fickle forces of fate without due compensation. Anytime a Fateblade rolls a 1 on a d20 he gains a Balance point up to a maximum of 1 point per Charisma modifier. For each Balance point he has his d20 rolls are treated as natural 20 on a roll 1 lower. For example, if a Fateblade had 3 Balance points and rolled a 17 it would be treated as natural 20. Whenever this ability would cause a Fateblade's d20 roll to be treated as a natural 20 the Fateblade loses 1 Balance point. A Fateblade does not lose Balance points if he actual rolls a natural 20.

(Credit to DracoDei for coming up with this part.)

Reins of Fate (Ex): A Fateblade can actively usurp his Fate, removing all chance from any of his endeavors for a short time each day. By taking the reins of fate a Fateblade gains bonuses to his willpower and presence and controls his own destiny.

He temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Wisdom, a +4 bonus to Charisma, and while he benefits from this ability any time he rolls a d20, if he rolls lower than 10 he may instead "take 10." This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3+the Fateblade's newly improved Charisma modifier. During this time a Fateblade cannot gain or lose Balance points.

A Fateblade may use this ability once per day at 1st level, gaining additional uses per day at 4th level and every four levels thereafter.

Foresight (Ex): Starting at 2nd level a Fateblade adds his Wisdom modifier to his Reflex saves and to his initiative.

At 5th level, this ability improves granting him his Wisdom modifier to AC, and causing him to always be aware during any surprise round.

Fateful Aura (Su): Starting at 3rd level, a Fateblade projects an invisible aura of menace. Whenever a foe within 15ft of the Fateblade rolls a 20 on a d20 that creature must re-roll taking the second roll instead. If the second roll is also a 20 the creature keeps it. In the same range, for each Balance point the Fateblade has foes' d20 rolls are treated as natural 1 on a roll 1 higher. For example, if a Fateblade had 2 Balance points all foes within 15ft of him would treat rolls of 1, 2, or 3 on a d20 as natural 1s.

Fateshackle (Su): At 6th level, Fateblades learn to forcibly remove their foes from the fickle hands of fate, and take control of their destinies as he would his own. As a free action after hitting an opponent with a melee attack, or as a standard action against any opponent within Close range (25ft +5ft/2 levels), he causes an opponent to make a Will save (DC 10+1/2Fateblade level+Charisma modifier). If the enemy fails this save, for the next 3+Fateblade's Charisma modifier rounds, whenever it rolls a d20, if it rolls higher than 10 it must "take 10" instead. Further, whenever the enemy rolls a 1 on a d20, that creature takes a penalty to all d20 rolls equal to the Fateblade's Charisma modifier for 1d4+1 rounds (including rolls which are treated as 1s through his Fateful Aura ability).

If the creature is within the Fateblade's Fateful Aura he may choose to apply this "take 10" effect to any re-rolls the creature must make as a result of rolling a 20.

At 6th level a Fateblade may only use this ability 1/day. He gains additional uses per day every four levels thereafter.

Know Vulnerabilities (Su): Starting at 7th level a Fateblade knows the special vulnerabilities and resistances of any creature he is able to see. Vulnerabilities include anything that causes the creature more than the normal amount of damage (such as a creature with the Cold Subtype having vulnerability to fire, or a crystalline creature's susceptibility to the Shatter spell). Resistances include any effects that reduce or negate damage the creature takes and immunities to particular attacks as well as spell resistance, turn resistance, and other such features.

For example, should the Fateblade encounter a Balor, he knows that it has DR 15/cold iron and good; SR 28; immunity to poison, fire, and electricity; resistance to acid 10 and cold 10; and that it has no particular vulnerabilities.

Portent (Su): Starting at 9th level, a Fateblade may duplicate the effects of the Contact Other Plane spell at-will. As the spell, this requires 10 minutes to complete the ritual and concentration to maintain the effect.

Know the Path (Ex): Starting at 11th level, a Fateblade benefits at all times from the effects of the Find the Path spell.

Fate Driver (Ex): At 11th level, a Fateblade's bonuses to Wisdom and Charisma increase to +6 while he takes the reins of fate. He also gains a +2 perfection bonus to his roll any time he "takes 10."

Footsteps of Doom (Su): Starting at 13th level, a Fateblade may duplicate the effects of the Legend Lore spell at-will.

Fatesight (Su): Starting at 15th level, a Fateblade benefits at all times from the effects of the True Seeing and Greater Arcane Sight spells.

Reveal Location (Su): Starting at 17th level, a Fateblade may duplicate the effects of the Discern Location spell at-will. As the spell, this requires 10 minutes to complete the ritual.

True Foresight (Ex): Starting at 19th level, a Fateblade benefits at all times from the effects of the Foresight spell.

Fatelord (Ex): At 20th level, a Fateblade's bonuses to Wisdom and Charisma increase to +8 while he takes the reins of fate. He also gains a +4 perfection bonus to his roll any time he "takes 10" and may extend the duration of his Reins of Fate ability by 5 rounds anytime he rolls a 20 on a d20 (including rolls which are treated as 20 through his Balance the Scales ability).

[Thugorp]

Not really. Since you need to confirm the fumble every time you do roll that natural 1, the chances of actually fumbling are tiny. Like, 1/400.

You know, I have alway run it like this: If a natural 1 is throne, the player has just made a fumble threat, he must then confirm by rearoling the attack. If he does not score high enough to actually hit the creature, he fumbles. regardless of the second roles outcome, he has missed the target.

[Lev]

Fortune's Friend

A PrC from Complete Scoundrel

Perfect way to fluff making a fumble into a good roll.

[DracoDei]

It could even be a spell.

With a 24 hour duration or something? Because I couldn't see it really working otherwise... MAYBE you could go as low as 10 minutes per level, depending on play style...