Clever Classes—Pathway to Adventure: The Marauder (PFRPG) PDF

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Bring your Pathfinder Roleplaying Game up to speed!

A reboot of the Mariner PC class from Cerulean Seas and the 4th D&D edition line "Clever Classes"; A mainstream PC class for the Pathfinder RPG, the Marauder, is the first in a long line of Clever Classes by Alluria Publishing.

Nothing is as swift and sure as a marauder. Sacrificing armor for mobility and celerity, these unburdened warriors are able to move at incredible speeds, shift in any direction with alarming alacrity, and are capable of the most agile of maneuvers. In fact, the marauder seems more at home on the run with the wind at his back than a hunting wolf or swooping falcon. Driven by a desire to master their environment, and, perhaps, show off, marauders outrace everyone.

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5.00/5 (based on 2 ratings)

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5/5 - Cool, simple skirmishing warrior - this PDF accomplishes it’s goal.

5/5

Why did I buy this? What did I actually get?
Having some exposure to Alluria’s products, I hold them in high regard. As a hit-and-run style combatant, it’s a simple class using familiar concepts, but I haven’t seen implemented in quite this way.

Have I used this, or will I use this?
I haven’t implemented in play, but I did put together a 14th level character utilizing this class in part. It’s a fortunately simple class, and if I wanted to build NPCs with it, I wouldn’t find myself needing to reference the PDF in play to use.

How is the fluff?
Present, but not in the way - we are told that “nothing is as swift and sure.” A product of intense training, marauders are set apart by their speed. As for the archetypes, the fluff remains light and to the point.

How are the mechanics?
I like the feel of this class; full BAB and good Reflex saves, they gain bonus feats at first and every 3 levels - these feats must be selected from a list of speed-related feats spelled out in the PDFs. Now while the list you can select from here here could be modified with some common sense, it, like casters with new spell lists, isn’t technically forward compatible. The selection itself is pretty diverse though - which is good for Sudden Strike. Sudden Strike is a type of precision damage that you can apply to the next attack you make, up to one round later, after using one of these selected bonus feats. On top of this, you get more of what’s familiar: fast movement, evasion, and speed stunts, which are essentially marauder talents.
The four archetypes cover a good variety of concepts. Beast Runners gain one or more animal companions, Fleetfoots specialize in stealth and overland movement rather than combat, Quicklings gain a ki pool, and Shadow Sprinters are as adept at moving up a wall as they are across the ground. Finally, we have 10 feats, about half of which require the sudden strike feature, while the others can be used by classes with Fast Movement/Improved Evasion. I do like all of these feats, and don’t see that any scream overpowered, with the exception of Marauder’s Momentum.

How’s the artwork?
Real cool piece on the cover. The artwork inside is all of high-quality and fits the image of the marauder - even if I’ve seen most these in other books.

How’s readability?
Two column approach, I noticed a hiccup here or there, but the page backgrounds are simple, and the text wraps around art well. No problem here.

Was the price fair?
At $2.50? A steal.

Favorite part?
Despite noting it’s potential for abuse, the image is too cool for me to gripe about. Marauder’s Momentum allows you to take an extra turn when you successfully take no damage from attack originating from a viable target (aka not a trap), as long as you attack someone in that turn. You have to have improved evasion in order to take it, so you won’t see 2nd level characters running around breaking the action economy.

Least favorite part?
The Quickling archetype seems well-done, but the ki mechanic doesn’t hold a lot of interest for me, so I personally wouldn’t ever use it.


Swift, Sure, Awesome

5/5

The Marauder is a conversion of a class called the Mariner, originally presented in Alluria Publishing's Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting. It's worth noting that I absolutely love Cerulean Seas and may be more than a smidged biased. That being said-

When I first picked up Cerulean Seas, the very first thing my friends and I talked about was how the Mariner really needed to be converted for non-aquatic play, as the class had so much going for it. It was like some of our favorite features of the monk, rogue, and fighter all mixed together in this Aquaman package that absolutely would deserve its seat in the Pathfinder Justice League, right alongside Paladin Superman.

The Marauder delivers all of that hoped for promise, although he's a bit more Flash than Aquaman in this incarnation. In addition to being a fast moving damage-dealer with 7 bonus feats drawn from a class-specific list (basically a combination of movement, reflex, and combat related feats) the Marauder gains access to combat techniques called "Speed Stunts" which run the gamut from single use speed boosts to the ability to combine a move action with a full attack action (albeit at the cost of his highest attack).

While the class does have two poor saves (Fort and Will), he's still got a decent amount of durability, with d10 hit die (and appropriate BAB) and numerous ways to improve his armor class while moving. High Reflex save and Evasion/Improved Evasion mean that he's unlikely to be concerned about nearly any spell or effect that targets Reflex.

In addition to the core class, this supplement also includes 4 archetypes, the Beast Runner, Fleetfoot, Quickling, and Shadow Sprinter. The Beast Runner gains an animal companion in place of Evasion, with the interesting restriction that the companion must have a speed of 50 or more in a movement mode that the character also possesses. The Fleetfoot gains Favored Terrain and other abilities that emphasize the more stealthy aspects of the class, while the Quickling overemphasizes its association with speed by adding a ki pool, haste, and the monk's abundant step. The Shadow Sprinter may be my favorite archetype, as its class abilities allow you to run up walls, cartwheel through enemy spaces with increased ease and facility, and eventually walk on nearly any surface, including water, lava, or tree branches.

The Marauder wants to move. He wants to move every round and he hates standing still, so he ultimately provides a very dynamic gaming experience, and one that's a blast to play. From a balance perspective, he does an excellent job of breaking away from the "stand still and full attack" dynamic that many combat-oriented characters often find themselves tied to, without pushing his combat abilities outside of what you'd expect from other classes with similar abilities like the monk or ranger. The Marauder is familiar enough that just about any player can pick the class up and run with it (hah!), but has enough cool tricks to entertain even a veteran player.

What I'm saying is, buy this, play this, and I'm pretty sure you'll find that you love it.


Webstore Gninja Minion

Now available!

Paizo Employee Design Manager

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The fact that this finally happened fills me with levels of happiness that can only be expressed by stars.

Bought, read, and reviewed.

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Pathfinder Accessories, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Oh look, I still have a few dollars in store credit available...


Nice. Glad to see this and the price is very affordable for what sounds like an excellent class.


Crazy typo fiasco: The back cover's "Nothing is as swift and sure as a marauder." was fixed and reverted several times, and it actually carried over to a typo in the product description. We finally got that fixed, and the product description will be fixed shortly. A minor thing really, made a bit frustrating by the fact that it was caught be the author and all the editors a couple of times, fixed several times, and then the cover files kept getting switched with the older, erroneous one. Hopefully, that is over!

Happy gaming!


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Wait....so this class could maybe be used to build a "Flash/Quicksilver" type character?


Nate Z wrote:
Wait....so this class could maybe be used to build a "Flash/Quicksilver" type character?

You will, of course, have to supply your own skin-tight outfits. And cocky attitude.

Paizo Employee Design Manager

Nate Z wrote:
Wait....so this class could maybe be used to build a "Flash/Quicksilver" type character?

If by that you mean a character who can move really fast while making effective attacks and receiving a bunch of speed and movement related bonuses.... Yes.


Great review, Ssalarn.

I'm very interested in seeing how they pulled this off.

Paizo Employee Design Manager

I really like that the class explores an interesting middle-ground between the normal "move and and standard action or stand still and full attack" of the core martial characters, and the maneuvers of Dreamscarred's Path of War initiator classes. Unlike the Path of War classes, the Marauder doesn't really introduce any major new mechanics to the game; he just tweaks a few existing ones and adds in his Sudden Strike ability (kind of like a 1/2 progression sneak attack triggered by th use of his bonus feats instead of flanking) to make his standard actions count for more. The Marauder is familiar enough that just about any player can pick the class up and run with it (hah!), but has enough cool tricks to entertain even a veteran player.

I'm adding that last line to the review.


Can someone from Alluria Publishing send me a private message? Thanks!


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Ssalarn wrote:
Nate Z wrote:
Wait....so this class could maybe be used to build a "Flash/Quicksilver" type character?
If by that you mean a character who can move really fast while making effective attacks and receiving a bunch of speed and movement related bonuses.... Yes.

Good thing my dog just left for the pet-sitter, as I think my squee just now would have made him deaf.


I feel like K(geography) would've been a good fit, so they actually know what they can run on.

Also, major concerns over the Staying Strike feat. That, combined with Whirlwind Attack mean that you'll be able to staggerlock just about any group of enemies you want, making it a no brainer. Whirlwind Attack does one single attack against all enemies applicable, so you'd get sudden strike against all of 'em.


Erm, I meant, K(Nature). For some reason, geography sounded perfect to my desperate for sleep brain to describe knowledge of things to run on.


Cheapy wrote:


Also, major concerns over the Staying Strike feat. That, combined with Whirlwind Attack mean that you'll be able to staggerlock just about any group of enemies you want, making it a no brainer. Whirlwind Attack does one single attack against all enemies applicable, so you'd get sudden strike against all of 'em.

Is that right?. It is late, so I may be getting this wrong.

Staying Strike lets you lock these people up by, essentially, sacrificing a Sudden Strike.

But Sudden Strike says it works only on 'the next attack.'

The wording for Whirlwind Attack says 'You must make a separate attack roll against each opponent.' Thus, you are, even if it is a single attacking maneuver,making multiple attacks. Therefore, you are really only locking down the first target you roll against.

Alternatively, and probably for the best, this interpretation should be up to a given GM. Even if a table likes the idea of Whirlwind Attack getting the full benefit of being a single attack for purposes above, all that really does is make a mid-high level, multi-attribute dependent Marauder really awesome at locking up mobs.

And, hey, that sounds kind of cool.

EDIT - I Looked at the FAQ.

Sudden Strike is modeled after Sneak Attack. Let's assume a whirlwind attack, via the feat, is a single attack or one that strikes all targets simultaneously . . . well, how would sneak attack handle that?

<From the FAQ>

Sneak Attack: Can I add sneak attack damage to simultaneous attacks from a spell?

No. For example, scorching ray fires simultaneous rays at one or more targets, and the extra damage is only added once to one ray, chosen by the caster when the spell is cast.


Actually, I think I did misread it.

Whirlwind attack wrote:
When you use the full-attack action, you can give up your regular attacks and instead make one melee attack at your highest base attack bonus against each opponent within reach. You must make a separate attack roll against each opponent.

Since it was late, instead of reading the next sentence, I stopped looking, since it looked like it was clear that it was a single attack. The second sentence is enough to make it not work against all enemies, although it does raise a question of what's "using" a feat like that.

From an intent purpose, it seems that anything that favors staying stationary and full-attacking is against the intent of the class.

I still feel that the feat is still too good though. The closest to it is Staggering Critical, which requires level 13 at a minimum, a critical hit to happen, and a saving throw on top of that. (Also, the last two sentences of it are badly written)

This requires 1st level marauder, and makes the class a very, very appetizing dip.

Paizo Employee Design Manager

Cheapy wrote:

Actually, I think I did misread it.

Whirlwind attack wrote:
When you use the full-attack action, you can give up your regular attacks and instead make one melee attack at your highest base attack bonus against each opponent within reach. You must make a separate attack roll against each opponent.

Since it was late, instead of reading the next sentence, I stopped looking, since it looked like it was clear that it was a single attack. The second sentence is enough to make it not work against all enemies, although it does raise a question of what's "using" a feat like that.

From an intent purpose, it seems that anything that favors staying stationary and full-attacking is against the intent of the class.

I still feel that the feat is still too good though. The closest to it is Staggering Critical, which requires level 13 at a minimum, a critical hit to happen, and a saving throw on top of that. (Also, the last two sentences of it are badly written)

This requires 1st level marauder, and makes the class a very, very appetizing dip.

I don't know that that's really true. While the staggered condition specifically can't be added as a rider before that level, numerous other debilitating conditions at least as crippling under the right circumstances, like blindness as an immediate example, are available very early on. Staggered doesn't prevent the target from charging, attacking, casting most spells, etc.

Other classes aren't going to have the extensive abilities encouraging them to move like the Marauder does, so the chances to powergame the abilities are... I don't know, maybe I'm not seeing it. You drop a level to multiclass for 2 poor saves, Full BAB, d10, poor skills, and maybe grab Lunge (assuming you qualify), spend another feat on Staying Strike, and now your 6th+ level character can stagger someone for one round when they use Lunge... and then the opponent either 5 foot steps up and smacks you with your reduced AC, or if you're using a reach weapon, charges you.

Sure you can grab a different feat to trigger your Sudden Strike with, but few of them are going to be particularly reliable unless the dipping class is already rewarded for movement, like a Monk or Swashbuckler, and the monk already has much meaner debuffs at his disposal. So, maybe Swashbucklers get a bit of a control bump by dipping Marauder and grabbing a feat? I guess an archer could use it with Charging Shot, but then you're giving up the biggest advantage of archery (more full attacks), to ping an enemy who the feat requires to be in charging range, which is just setting yourself up for failure.

I'm inclined to put this one on the "not a big deal" pile. If you really want it to be worthwhile, you need more than a 1 level dip, or a specialty build that's fairly convoluted and still probably much less powerful than any dozen combinations you can come up with from core materials.

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