Soldier (3.5 melee tank PEACH)

[boomwolf]

The solider, born to fill the role of the tank in a homebrew setting I am working on (named "Elemental Ruin"), combining points from fighter (lots of fighter feats), paladin (divine grace, courage), knight (defensive abilities) an a tiny bit of Swashbuckler (for the charge), complete with a bunch of whole-new abilities to form a new, melee fighting machine focused on being hardy and protective.

As this IS a replacement melee character, I am not afraid on stepping on toes there, as there will be no knights, paladins, fighters or swashbucklers in there, so please PEACH accordingly, what interests me in not if this makes them unplayable, but how playable THIS is.

And so, with no further comments: the Solider!

The Soldier

Hit Die: d12
{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+1|+2|+0|+0|Bonus Feat

2nd|+2|+3|+0|+0|Bulwark of Defense

3rd|+3|+3|+1|+1|Bonus Feat

4th|+4|+4|+1|+1|Retaliation 1d6

5th|+5|+4|+1|+1|Armor Mastery (medium), Divine Grace

6th|+6/+1|+5|+2|+2|Bonus Feat, Shield Ally

7th|+7/+2|+5|+2|+2|Aura of Courage

8th|+8/+3|+6|+2|+2|Retaliation 2d6

9th|+9/+4|+6|+3|+3|Bonus Feat

10th|+10/+5|+7|+3|+3|Armor Mastery (heavy), Improved Shield Ally

11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+3|+3|Vigilant Defender

12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+4|+4|Retaliation 3d6, Bonus Feat

13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+4|+4|Lack of Unluck

14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+4|+4|Unhindered Charge

15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+5|+5|Bonus Feat

16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+5|+5|Retaliation 4d6

17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+5|Aura of Fear

18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+6|+6|Bonus Feat

19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+6|+6|To the Death

20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+6|+6|Retaliation 5d6, And Beyond

[/table]


Class Skills:
The soldier’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Swim (Str) an Taunt (Cha).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier


Bonus Feat
At first level the solier gains a bonus feat chosen from the bonus fighter feat list, he gains an aiidional such feat at third level, and any thir level after that (6, 9, 12, 15, 18)

Bulwark of Defense (Ex)
When a soldier reaches second level he is skilled enough to pose a serous threat to those around him, making every opponent who begins his turn in the soldier's threaten area treats all squares threatened by the solider as difficult terrain.

Retaliation (Ex)
A forth level solider is an expert at making himself a priority target in combat. if an opponent spends his turn preforming any kind of hostile action (attacking, casting hostile spells, demoralization attempts, etc...) without attacking the solider (targeting him with spells or abilities, or including him in an area of effect counts as attacking him for that matter) will take an additional 1d6 damage from any attack dealt by the soldier as he has the time to position himself for a devastating attack. this damage increase to 2d6 at level 8, 3d6 at 12, 4d6 at 16 and finally 5d6 at 20.

Creatures who are immune to critical hits does not receive this extra damage.

Armor Mastery (Ex)
Starting at fifth level the soldier is able to wear his armor as second skin, ignoring the normal speed reduction for medium armor. at level 10 he ignores the speed reduction to heavy armor as well.

Divine Grace (Su)
The confidence and force of personality of the fifth level soldier allows him to preform well under pressure, making his reflexes sharper, his fortitude hardier and his will unbreakable. he gains a bonus equal to his Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.

Shield Ally (Ex)
Starting at 6th level, as an immediate action, the soldier can choose to take some of the damage that would be dealt to an adjacent ally. each time this ally takes HP damage from an attack (be it physical of magical) until next turn the soldier takes half that damage instead of the ally.

Aura of Courage (Su)
Starting at seventh level, the inhuman confidence of the soldier radiates around him, giving him a moral bonus on saving throws against fear equal to twice his Charisma bonus (if any), and a moral bonus on saving throws against fear to all allies within 5 ft. for class level of him equal to his Charisma bonus (if any).

This ability functions while the solider is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead.

Improved Shield Ally (Ex)
At 10th level the soldier's ability to defend others improves, he may choose to take all damage instead of only half.

Vigilant Defender (Ex)
An eleventh level soldier is an expert at standing his ground to prevent others from passing him. if an opponents attempts to tumble through his threatened area without provoking attacks of opportunity the DC for the check is increased by the soldier's class level.

Lack of Unluck (Ex)
As any soldier of 13th level will tell you, there is no such thing as luck, only skill. his training and spirit allows him to push his boy and mind further then what most humans can making him no longer automatically fail at a result of a natural 1 on saving throws, although he might still fail if the result fails to equal or beat the DC.

Unhindered Charge (Ex)
A 14th level solider learns not only to protect, but to attack as if nothing is in his way. he may charge across difficult terrain that normally slows advancement or even people blocking the path. he might still need to make appropriate skill checks (like jumping over a hole in the ground, balancing on a beam, or tumbling around people.)

Aura of Fear (Su)
A 17th level solider acknowledge not only the power of courage, but also the power of fear. whenever the soldier attacks or charges creatures within a radius of 5 feet per class level subject to the aura if they have fewer HD than the soldier. A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a Will save (DC 15 + twice the soldier’s Cha modifier) remains immune to that soldier’s Aura of Fear for 24 hours. On a failure, creatures with 4 or less HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds.

To the Death (Su)
A 19th level solider also learns the value of true devotion to a fight, he may, as a free action, declare out loud that his fight is "To the Death", from that moment on he is under magical compulsion of his own making forced to continue fighting until he either wins or becomes unable to fight, he may not make any attempt to escape or surrender, an actively harm any attempt made to force him to do so by others, be it enemies or allies. this compulsion is unbreakable even by divine interference, an only ends if the soldier is either victorious or successfully forced stop fighting.
While under the effects of this compulsion the soldier revives a moral bonus to AC, attack rolls, damage rolls and any skill checks that are related to the fight equal to his charisma modifier.

And Beyond (Su)
A level 20 solider knows not only the value of death, but also of life. if he is reduced to 0 hit points or lower (even below -10) by any effect that will leave his boy roughly intact he may focus his will to shrug off death an continue fighting, by making a will save each round (DC is 20+2 for each round passed in this condition) you keep going until you fail a save, then you fall down unconscious (or dead if below -10 hp)
You can be healed during this time, even if you were below -10 at some point, as long you lasted enough rounds so that you healed above it you survive at the end, although if during any time an effect destroys your boy (such as a denigration effect) this ability cannot help you, an you die normally.



Thoughts on crunch? I believe fluff in rather obvious given that this is to "basic" melee combatant of the setting.

[nonsi]

A tank-would-be with poor Will saves

[Temotei]

A tank-would-be with poor Will saves

And divine grace, an aura of courage, and lack of unluck.

[nonsi]

Compared to the challenges out there and the means of other classes (SoS galore, invis, teleportation, magical barriers, flight and whatnot), it seems more than reasonable.
I'd also suggest renaming Divine Grace and making in Con-based (melees suffer from MAD as it is). For the charismatic warrior type, one could always devise a grace-themed ACF.

[Kuma Kode]

And Beyond... Terrible capstone. Without a ludicrous wisdom for a fighter or magic items that boost Will, this ability has a less than 45% chance of activating at all. Your chance of getting even a second round is, what, 24%? I suggest making it based on Fortitude or something, so it actually amounts to something at 20th level.

[Nopraptor]

I too suggest renaming divine grace since there is nothing divine about the class and I think turning the saves from will to fortitude is also a good idea

[Dead_Jester]

First of all, this doesn't fix any of the problems with the melee classes (although this doesn't seem to have been the intent), and could definitely use a boost in power if you want it to be really useful.

Also, why the crazy MAD? Melee dudes already need Str and Con, now they also need Cha and Wis.

Retaliation needs to state for how long the bonus damage is applied after a hostile action has been made.

Finally, this class, as written, could be considered somewhat of a tank, but it can't perform the function of a tank, which should be to keep the squishies from being killed. The main problem is that this class is purely about passive tanking, and it's only ability that is somewhat active tanking (Retaliation) only inflicts HP damage, which most monsters laugh at. This class needs unique abilities that either force others to attack him instead of his allies, or that make ignoring him very detrimental (and not only by making them take more damage), probably in the form of hard or medium crowd control (this class already covers the soft control).

[boomwolf]

nonsi-might be a good idea, but charisma also dominates aura of curage and aura of fear, and I hardly see THAT as being Con based. ideas? (also, intimidate and taunt skills are cha based, and you want them to be high...)

Kuma-well. you DO get a charisma bonus (divine grace), but I see your point there, maye if I lower the saves there? (altough moving it to Fort is plausible, will consider it.)

Jester:
1-no, it does not aim at fixing that.
2-Wis? only 1 ability trigger on it, and it triggers on Cha as well.
3-Bulwark of Defense, Vigliant Defender, and Taunt skill. but I see what you re talking about. suggestions?

[hamishspence]

Finally, this class, as written, could be considered somewhat of a tank, but it can't perform the function of a tank, which should be to keep the squishies from being killed. The main problem is that this class is purely about passive tanking, and it's only ability that is somewhat active tanking (Retaliation) only inflicts HP damage, which most monsters laugh at. This class needs unique abilities that either force others to attack him instead of his allies, or that make ignoring him very detrimental (and not only by making them take more damage), probably in the form of hard or medium crowd control (this class already covers the soft control).

What might active tanking be? Maybe the ability to stop enemy movement near him, with opportunity attacks? So- bad guy trys to move past him- he hits them- and stops them in their tracks?

[SynissterSyster]

Wow, I like the ideas thrown about in the thread. I am slowly making my own melee class and it is good to read some ideas on how "tanking" should be done. What else should be considered for a good melee tank?