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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
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    Mid-Rohan
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    Default Defender of the Mountain PrC

    This class is intended as a fix for the Dwarven Defender for 3.5

    I wrote this up a few months ago and I just had the impulse to share it. It's based on a campaign setting I was crafting where I wanted to use the Dwarven Defender, but I wanted them actually able to effectively take on a Dragon. These dwarves were the original crafters of the Golems and the War-Forged, they have fought the Dragons, the Giants, and the Elves, so you might see some of that reflected in their design. I took some inspiration from a Sword & Board handbook I was reading around that time.

    For the most part, I wanted to remain faithful to the original Dwarven Defender flavor, but to make sure it would have enough strength to be worth playing, even if it'll still never be as gamebreaking as a magic user.

    Defender of the Mountain

    Hit Die
    d12

    Level BAB Fort Reflex Will AC Bonus Maneuvers Known Maneuvers Readied Special
    1 +1 +2 +0 +2 +1 1 0 Defensive Stance 1/day
    2 +2 +3 +0 +3 +1 0 0 Uncanny Dodge
    3 +3 +3 +1 +3 +1 1 0 Defensive Stance 2/day
    4 +4 +4 +1 +4 +2 0 1 Shield Tactics
    5 +5 +4 +1 +4 +2 1 0 Defensive Stance 3/day
    6 +6 +5 +2 +5 +2 0 0 Improved Uncanny Dodge, Unbreakable Line
    7 +7 +5 +2 +5 +3 1 0 Defensive Stance 4/day
    8 +8 +6 +2 +6 +3 0 1 Improved Shield Tactics
    9 +9 +6 +3 +6 +3 1 0 Defensive Stance 5/day
    10 +10 +7 +3 +7 +4 0 0 Iron Golem's Magic Immunity

    Prerequisites

    Race
    Dwarf

    Alignment
    Non-Chaotic

    Base Attack Bonus
    +7

    Feats
    Shield Proficiency, Improved Shield Bash, Formation Expert

    Martial Maneuvers
    Must know at least two maneuvers and one stance from Devoted Spirit, Stone Dragon, or White Raven.

    Class Skills
    The Defender of the Mountain's class skills are Balance (Dex), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) (Int), Listen (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spot (Wis).
    Skill Points
    2+Int Modifier

    Class Features
    AC Bonus (Ex)
    Defenders of the Mountain gain a dodge bonus to their AC as they gain levels, up to a maximum of +4 at 10th level. For Defenders that choose to wear Heavy Armor and use a Shield, this bonus may instead be considered a Shield Bonus rather than a dodge bonus and stacks with their shield’s normal AC bonus as well as their Defensive Stance (see below). (This is done specifically for the benefit of builds that use the Parrying Shield feat to add their shield bonus to their Touch AC.)

    Weapon and Armor Proficiency
    Defenders of the Mountain are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, all types of armor, and all shields.

    Maneuvers
    At each odd-numbered level, a Defender of the Mountain learns a new maneuver known from Devoted Spirit, Stone Dragon, or White Raven.You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by Defenders is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Your maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you initiate one. You add your total Defender of the Mountain level to your Initiator level for the purpose of determining your total Initatior level and the highest level of maneuvers you can learn. At every 4 levels, a Defender gains an additional Maneuver Readied per day.

    Defensive Stance (Ex) - Note this is not the same as the one described in the DMG for the Dwarven Defender class
    A Defender of the Mountain may adopt a Defensive Stance a number of times per day equal to half their Defender level rounded up (max of 5/day at 9th level). A Defender taking a Defensive Stance gains +2 Strength, +4 Constitution, +2 Resistance Bonus to all Saves, and a +4 Dodge Bonus to AC. If the Defender wears Heavy Armor and uses a Shield, this AC bonus may be counted as a Shield bonus that stacks with their normal shield bonus as well as their AC Bonus class feature (see above). The increase in Constitution increases the Defender’s HP by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away when the Defensive Stance ends. These extra hit points are not lost first the same way that temporary hit points are.

    This feature is not considered a Martial Stance and does not prevent you from using a Martial Stance in conjunction with it (there are many different philosophies behind defense).

    While in a Defensive Stance, a Defender of the Mountain gains the benefits of the following feats: Shieldmate, Improved Shieldmate, and Shield Wall

    While in a Defensive Stance, a Defender may only take a 5ft step without losing the benefit of their Defensive Stance. They may not use any skills or abilities that require more movement than a 5ft step. The only exception to this rule is to allow a Defender of the Mountain to use the Formation Expert feat without losing the benefit of their Defensive Stance. A Defensive Stance lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the Defender’s (newly improved) Constitution Modifier. A Defender may voluntarily end his Defensive Stance early prior to this limit.

    At the end of a Defender’s Defensive Stance, if the Defender has never moved from their position for the duration of their Defensive Stance, the Defender is winded and takes a -2 penalty to Strength for the duration of the encounter. If the Defender took any 5ft steps during their Defensive Stance (or used Formation Expert to move at least 5ft), then at the end of it they are Fatigued (-2 to Strength, -2 to Dexterity, and can’t charge or run) for the remainder of the encounter. Taking a Defensive Stance requires no time in itself, but it can only be done on the Defender’s turn.

    Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
    Starting at 2nd level, a dwarven defender retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (He still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)

    If a character gains uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below).

    Shield Tactics
    At 4th level, a Defender must choose a Shield Tactic to utilize: Mountain Face, Mountain Pass, or Avalanche. (This is similar to a Ranger’s Combat Style class feature, the Defender does not need to meet the prerequisites of the granted feats).

    Mountain Face: Gain the benefits of Shielded Casting when using Tower Shields (DMs can allow this to be substituted for Shielded Manifesting benefits if applicable, but still with Tower Shields)

    Mountain Pass: Gain Active Shield Defense as the Feat

    Avalanche: Gain Shield Charge as the Feat

    Unbreakable Line
    At 6th level, a Defender of the Mountain reaches absolute solidarity with his fellow Defenders. Whenever a Defender uses Defensive Stance while adjacent to an ally that also uses Defensive Stance, the two characters may add their occupied spaces together for determining their size with regards to grapple checks, trip checks, overrun checks, bull rush checks, disarm checks, and any other checks related to forcing the Defender to move or lower their guard.

    This means that four Defenders (in any spatial configuration that allows them to occupy the sufficient number of spaces continuously, such as a line or circle) count as a Large creature for the purpose of opposing bullrushes and grapples against any one of the Defenders. Enemies must still target individual Defenders to make attacks against them (or use area attacks to affect multiple Defenders) and their individual AC is not affected by their collective size bonus mentioned above. They do not gain this benefit until they have enough space occupied to fill at least the same space as a creature of that size, but all Defenders in the formation gain the benefit, so having five Defenders would still only gain the benefit of being a Large creature, but all five Defenders would gain the benefit.

    Improved Uncanny Dodge
    At 6th level, a dwarven defender can no longer be flanked. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the dwarven defender.

    The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the dwarven defender can flank him (and thus sneak attack him).

    If a character gains uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge, and the levels from those classes stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.

    Improved Shield Tactics
    At 8th level, your Shield Tactics improve, based on your previous choice of Shield Tactics. Your previous choice may not be changed, only advanced.

    Mountain Face: Gain Shield Ward as the Feat

    Mountain Pass: Gain Robilar’s Gambit as the Feat

    Avalanche: Gain Shield Slam as the Feat

    Iron Golem's Magic Immunity
    At 10th level, the dwarven mastery of Golem construction allows you to employ their armor like golem skin. While wearing heavy armor, having a Shield ready, and using your Defensive Stance, you gain the benefit of the Iron Golem’s magic Immunity, subject to the same exceptions.
    Quote Originally Posted by 2D8HP View Post
    Some play RPG's like chess, some like charades.

    Everyone has their own jam.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Deepbluediver's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    The US of A

    Default Re: Defender of the Mountain PrC

    If your goal is to be able to have them fight certain types of foes (specifically the types that dwarves are likely to encounter in your campaign setting), maybe consider giving them something like a Ranger's "Favored Enemy" ability?
    Quote Originally Posted by Rater202 View Post
    It's not called common because the sense is common, it's called common because it's about common things.
    Homebrew Extended Signature!

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Mid-Rohan
    Gender
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    Default Re: Defender of the Mountain PrC

    Not a bad idea. Favored enemy certainly isn't overpowered and it would be neat to see ranger entering this class.
    Quote Originally Posted by 2D8HP View Post
    Some play RPG's like chess, some like charades.

    Everyone has their own jam.

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