I'm just scratching my head trying to figure out what the fighter actually brings that's special, besides be decent at fighting enemies with a couple of weapon groups.
I've always envisioned the fighter approaching combat like an art, like a monk without the mystical inner perfection/awakened wisdom angle. Therefore they should be encouraged/rewarded for attempting to use combat maneuvers, and be experts at performing them, instead of being punished for doing other than whacking it for damage.
I've also always envisioned fighters as those courageous dudes that are extraordinarily resilient, with abundant stamina to fight long battles without becoming winded from wearing heavy armor and wielding heavy weapons for hours a day. Therefore they should have the ability to remove conditions, resist effects, stave of fatigue, exhaustion, and even death, laugh in the face of fear, and should be able to do cool things in combat without having to "switch on/rev up" like a barbarian that has to rage for his bonuses and cool abilities, or a ranger/paladin that has to buff himself with spells or face a certain foe in order to do his cool stuff. They should be the best at persistent, extraordinary resilience, and not be really tough JUST when they're buffed with spells or their limited abilities.
Fighters should be masters of a fighting style, which should include, and not be limited to, the mastery of specific weapons and/or armor.
I am working on a fighter rewrite right now for my current gaming group. The goal was to get more players to play a fighter over another martial class. Once I have it in a more presentable format, I'll post for you all.
"Brief" Summary of changes:
Spoiler:
Saves: Good Fort and Will saves. Poor Reflex (can be changed to a good progression with an advanced training talent)
Skills: 4 + Int points/level. Add Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility), Perception to class list.
Proficiency: As normal. In addition, a fighter is always considered armed, even when unarmed. If 'fighter' is a character’s favored class, the fighter’s penalties on attack rolls for using a broken, improvised, non-proficient, or wrongly-sized weapon are halved.
Bonus Feats: Applies to combat and teamwork feats. For qualifying for those feats that require a minimum ability score, a fighter treats his relevant score as the sum of his actual score + his fighter level. Can retrain a bonus combat or teamwork feat once per day, after 8 hours of rest.
Gains Combat Stamina feat at 1st level. Stamina is used to fuel fighter abilities as well as feats.
Gains Fighting Style at 1st level: Similar to ranger's combat style, where it sometimes grants the fighter a bonus feat despite prerequisites, but ultimately sets the fighter up for a particular fighting style right off the bat (two weapon fighting despite Dex score, double Str bonus when 2-handed fighting, Precise Shot feat for ranged fighters, defense bonus for tanks, Bodyguard feat for protectors, unarmed combat on par with a brawler, combat maneuver mastery [like using standard action maneuvers as attack action, or gaining maneuver Strike feats], finesse fighters, etc.)
Replaced Bravery with Maneuver Training: Scaling bonus to CMB and CMD, and the fighter can perform any combat maneuver without provoking attack of opportunity. Only provokes if he fails the maneuver and does not have the Improved feat for that maneuver.
Removed Armor Training and Weapon Training progression (see below).
Advanced Training: Essentially fighter talents. Mix of Advanced Weapon Training stuff from Weapon Master's Handbook and the abilities of all current fighter archetype features, plus weapon training and armor training. Gained at 3rd level and every odd level thereafter. Allows customization without the restriction and sacrifice of a single archetype.
Armor Training (talent): As normal, but does not scale. Can simply be taken multiple times.
Weapon Training: When the fighter learns a combat feat that normally applies to a specific weapon or weapon type, such as Weapon Focus or Rapid Reload, the feat instead applies to all weapons of the same weapon group that are legal choices for the feat, and the fighter is considered to have the feat with those weapons for the purpose of meeting prerequisites. Bonuses granted from overlapping groups do not stack.
- Furthermore, if the fighter has the Weapon Focus feat, and is applying it to an associated weapon group, the feat’s bonus also applies to any combat maneuver checks made with associated weapons, to his CMD when defending against disarm and sunder attempts made against his associated weapons, and on saving throws he makes against spells and effects that target his associated weapons (e.g., grease, heat metal, shatter, warp wood, etc.).
- Lastly, if the fighter’s Weapon Focus bonus with a particular weapon group is at least +2, and he spends at least 72 hours using an exotic weapon from the same weapon group, he gains proficiency with that weapon.
Resolve: As samurai ability, but using stamina points as resource. Gained at 3rd level. Removes some conditions (shaken, sickened, fatigued, etc.); Can roll Fort and Will saves twice and take better result; Stabilize and keep conscious if dropped below 0 hp.
Martial Mobility: Gained at 6th level. By spending stamina points, the fighter can take a full-attack action as a standard action. Can take move before, after, or between attacks. Movement does not provoke AoO from creatures the fighter hits that turn.
- If using the Revised Action Economy from Pathfinder Unchained, this ability adds 1 additional act that turn. This act can only be used for attack or move acts, but the fighter can take no more than 3 combined attack or move acts this turn when using this ability (can take more if hasted).
Stalwart: As unbreakable fighter archetype ability. Gained at 8th level. Basically Evasion for Fort and Will saves.
Greater Resolve: As samurai ability, but uses stamina points. Gained at 9th level. Turn critical hits into normal hits.
True Resolve: As samurai ability, but uses stamina points. Gained at 17th level. Avoid death.
Removed Armor Mastery (rolled into an advanced training talent).
Weapon Mastery is now an advanced training talent with a late level requirement.
I might also add some abilities similar to uncanny/improved uncanny dodge, or that allow fighters to always act in the surprise round. I already have a couple of abilities like these as advanced training talents, but I might make them baseline.
I'm combining several feat chains and rewriting a couple of combat feats. This is a boost for everyone, but because fighter gets more feats, it allows for greater customization and flexibility. Couple of examples:
Weapon Focus (Combat)
Choose one type of weapon. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple (or ray, if you are a spellcaster) as your weapon for the purposes of this feat.
Prerequisites: Proficiency with selected weapon, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make using the selected weapon. When your base attack bonus reaches +8, this bonus increases to +2. When your base attack bonus reaches +15, this bonus increases to +3.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon.
Fighter: A fighter instead gains a +1 bonus on all attack and damage rolls he makes using the selected weapon. For every four levels a fighter possesses after 1st (5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th) this feat’s bonus increases by +1. A multiclassed fighter uses either his fighter level or his base attack bonus to determine this feat’s bonus, whichever is greater. Classes with effective fighter levels (such as the magus or samurai) gain this benefit of this feat, instead of the normal benefit.
Stamina: Once per round, you can spend 2 stamina points to gain your Weapon Focus bonus with a weapon with which you don't have Weapon Focus. This bonus lasts until the start of your next turn.
{Combined Feats: Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization}
Cleave (Combat)
You can strike two adjacent foes with a single swing.
Prerequisites: Str 13, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. You can only make one additional attack per round with this feat. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.
When your base attack bonus reaches +4, you can use Cleave any number of times per round; as long as your extra Cleave attacks hit, you can continue to make attacks against foes adjacent to the previous foe, so long as they are within your reach. You cannot attack an individual foe more than once during this attack action.
In addition, when your base attack bonus reaches +4, you can use your full-attack action to 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. When you use the Cleave feat in this way, you also forfeit any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats, spells, or abilities.
Fighter or Dwarf: When your base attack bonus reaches +11, if your initial attack hits, you may take a single 5-foot step as a free action before making your additional attacks. If doing so places a creature within your threatened area, that creature becomes a legal target for your additional Cleave attack(s) as long as it meets all the other prerequisites.
Stamina: You can spend 4 stamina points to negate the –2 penalty to Armor Class until your next turn. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, once per round when you miss a foe with an attack gained from Cleave, you can spend 5 stamina points to make another Cleave attack anyway. When your base attack bonus reaches +11, once per round when you hit a creature with a follow-up Cleave attack, you can spend 5 stamina points to take a second 5-foot step as a free action. If doing so places a creature within your threatened area, that creature becomes a legal target for your additional Cleave attacks as long as it meets all the other prerequisites.
{Combined Feats: Cleave, Great Cleave, Cleave Through, Whirlwind Attack}
Combat Expertise (Combat)
<Descriptive Fluff>
Prerequisite: Int 13.
Benefit: When making a deadly aim attack (now universal), a power attack (now universal), or when fighting defensively (now uses Combat Expertise's old mechanic), you do not suffer the penalty on attack rolls on the first attack you make each turn when using one or more of these combat actions. You still suffer the penalty on any additional attacks, including attacks of opportunity. Additionally, you can now make attacks of opportunity when using total defense, but at a –4 penalty to your opportunity attack rolls.
Stamina: You can spend 2 stamina points, per combat option, to gain the benefits and the hindrances of that combat action until the end of your current turn, instead of until the start of your next turn. Alternatively, if you spend 5 stamina points, each successful attack you make against a target reduces your total attack penalties (the sum of using one or more combat actions simultaneously) against that target by 1 (to a minimum of 0) until the beginning of your next turn.
{Combined/Reworked Feats: Combat Expertise, Furious Focus}
Vital Strike (Combat)
You make a single attack that deals significantly more damage than normal.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon's damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
When your base attack bonus reaches +11, you roll the weapon's damage dice for the attack three times and add the results together, instead of rolling them twice.
When your base attack bonus reaches +16, you roll the weapon's damage dice for the attack four times and add the results together, instead of rolling them three times.
Stamina: After rolling the damage of a Vital Strike attack, you can spend 2 stamina points to reroll up to two of the weapon's damage dice. (For weapons with more than one damage die, count all the weapon's base damage dice together as one.) You must take the second result, even if it's lower. When your base attack bonus reaches +11, you can spend 3 stamina points instead of 2 to reroll three damage dice. When your base attack bonus reaches +16, you can spend 4 stamina points instead of 2 to reroll four damage dice.
{Combined Feats: Vital Strike, Improved Vital Strike, Greater Vital Strike}
Right now, the fighter in my home game that is using these changes is level 7, and started at level 4. Dwarf. Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 10. He focuses on a 2-handed fighting style with hammers (singular mighty blows with Vital Strike), favors resiliency, and focuses his skills on climb/swim, perception, intimidate, heal, ride, some knowledge skills, and survival (playing Kingmaker Adventure path). His feats are: Combat Stamina, Weapon Focus (great club; hammers with weapon training talent), Cleave, Pushing Assault, Vital Strike, Combat Expertise, Signature Skill (Perception), Toughness, and Endurance.
Other members of the party are an Unchained Rogue, Fire-bloodline Sorceress (uses Spheres of Power system), and Cleric of Erastil (crusader archetype; uses spheres of power system).
We also use the Revised Action Economy from Pathfinder Unchained.
The fighter is a powerhouse in combat, without a doubt, but has been able to keep up with (and sometimes surpasses) the rest of the party in terms of travel/exploration, survival, perception, and "negotiations".
If I had more bandwidth, and actually had a player playng the traditional cleric with spells (instead of a crusader archetype and the Spheres of Power system), I'd probably throw something more substantial together, but here's the quick and dirty on how I envision an unchained cleric. Keep in mind, numbers are rough.
Unchained Cleric:
Alignment: One step from deity
Hit Die: d6
BAB: 1/2 progression
Good Saving Throws: Will
Class Skills: Unchanged
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier
CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A cleric is proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, and shields (except heavy and tower shields). Proficient with deity's favored weapon.
Aura: Unchanged
Spells: Spell list reduced to a set of universal cleric spells, domain spells will add to list. No need for domain slots.
Orisons: Unchanged
Channel Energy: Uses = 1/2 cleric level + Wisdom mod.; Usable on single target within 30 ft.; Turn Undead feat for free; no longer heals/harms an area as baseline; Can now only be used to Turn Undead, provide variant channel energy options based on domains, or fuel domain powers. perhaps it could also be used to cast an augury or similar to spell, to represent divine intervention/guidance.
- Selective Channeling feat now lets you target up to a number of additional targets equal to your Wisdom bonus, when using channel energy. This is designed to emulate current aoe design. Healing and Death domains grant this as a bonus feat.
Domains (General): Combine domains and all their sub-domains together. Domains now offer:
5-6+ Domain Powers, chosen in a Oracle's Mystery/Revelation style; Most domain powers are equalized to be taken at any level, or at least lower levels; Using a domain power consumes one use of Channel Energy, instead of 3 + Wisdom mod (or less) uses per day
3-4 Domain spells for each spell level; added to list and can be prepared each day using spell slots
Variant Channeling stuff from Ultimate Magic; each domain has a heal/buff and harm/debuff option for Channel Energy; some current domain powers could become variant channel energy options; no longer heal/harm hp damage as baseline; some are buffed slightly (at least in duration) to compensate for reduction in healing/harming; progresses in power at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level if it has a progression
If you select War or Strength or similar domains as your devoted domain, you could get the d8 HD, 3/4 BAB, good Fort progression, and medium armor + shields proficiencies, as a passive domain power OR the crusader archetype could do the same thing instead.
Devoted Domain: Based on deity's portfolio; gained at 1st level, cannot be changed; Gain one domain power, gain another devoted domain power at 6th, 11th, and 16th; gain variant channeling energy options; gain all domain spells
Pledged Domain: Gained at 4th level; when you prepare spells, choose one domain from your deity's portfolio (other than chosen devoted domain); can be changed each time you prepare your spells for the day; gain domain spells and variant channel energy options of chosen pledged domain; at 8th level, whenever you choose a pledged domain, you may also choose one domain power from the pledged domain. At 14th level, you can choose two domain powers from the pledged domain.
Spontaneous Casting: Can be used to sub-in cure/inflict spells or domain spells
An idea I had a while ago for the cleric, before I adopted the Spheres of Power system for my home game and the cleric in my group took up the Crusader archetype with a very definitive theme in relation to his deity (so he wasn't looking for flexibility), was to have a cleric's domain selection mirror the shaman's wandering spirit functionality.
Essentially, the cleric selected only one domain at 1st level from his deity's portfolio; this was his "devoted domain," the domain that defined his core beliefs and could not be changed. At 4th level, once per day when he prepared spells, he could choose a second domain from his deity's portfolio, gaining the 1st-level ability and adding the domain spells to his list; this second domain is his "pledged domain," and represents the clerics pledge to his deity's cause for that day or current circumstances. This pledged domain could be changed each day, giving the cleric a bit of flexibility for current circumstances. At 12th level, the cleric gained the first AND second abilities of his pledged domain.
The goal was to give the cleric a little more flexibility in his customization, so everything wasn't just decided at 1st level and then never changed, and to spread out his domain powers so the cleric could look forward to new things as they leveled, other than just new spells (so domain powers at 1st, 4th, 6th or 8th, and 12th).
My other thought was to make domains more like oracle mysteries, but then you might as well just play an oracle, who honestly fit the feel and theme of "cleric" better than clerics do.
It might also be worth taking a look at the Saint base class, which actually got certified by Paizo to be part of the Pathfinder Community, for inspiration for other cleric changes.
Just wondering if anyone has an explanation as to the Gearhead's (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/3rd-party-classes/icosa-entertainment-llc/ gearhead) mysterious 'power source'.
It seems to be a mental thing, based on the description, and it basically seems to be magic (at least from my perspective).
I guess there isn't really a solid answer, but I want to provide some kind of tangible explanation as to what it is without saying 'it's magic' or some other mystical, mental energy.
Thoughts or ideas anyone?
TIA
Hey there Sjark,
I'm the designer of the Gearhead class, so this is as straight of an answer as you're going to get, I think :)
So the class, as presented on D20PFSRD, isn't really done justice as out of context as it is. The Gearhead is strictly science-based, so therefore his "power source" is literally a sort of energy generator; it generates either steam, electric, thermal, kinetic, chemical or some other scientific form of energy that the Gearhead utilizes to power/activate his contraption devices. The type of energy generated is left to the Gearhead's player to decide, for flavor, which is why I left it a little vague. A Gearhead's Scientific Specialty could also help define his power source by the nature of the fields of science the specialty revolves around; an Electric Engineer likely uses some sort of electric battery/generator, a Pneumatic Engineer likely uses steam generated through either chemical or thermal reactions, etc.
Mechanically, a Gearhead's power source (or power generator) is really no different from a wizard's or sorcerer's limited ability to manipulate magical forces.
Hopefully that gives you a little bit of clarity on what a Gearhead's 'power source' really is. I'm happy to answer any further questions you may have regarding the Gearhead or Pure Steam.
Either following or parallel to the release of our upcoming wild-west Pure Steam Campaign Setting supplement, Westbound, I'll be compiling FREE PDFs of Pure Steam's contraption and schematic system, contraption-related feats, and possibly the Gearhead class (maybe even our upcoming Tech Savant class). So be sure to keep an eye out on our website's Downloads page for those in the coming months.
I guess it would have been a bit much to expect the Unchained Monk archetypes to be in Pathfinder Unchained (although ACG/ACO and Occult Adventures introduced all of their classes with archetypes), but does anyone know when Unchained Monk archetypes are supposed to be coming out from Paizo?
So while at GenCon this year, I was in a Q&A session with the Pathfinder Design Team and asked a very similar question.
Their response to me was that they plan on making most, if not all, future monk archetypes both Unchained- and classic-monk simultaneously compatible.
In terms of classic monk archetypes, they had no foreseeable plans of going back to retrofit classic monk archetypes into Unchained-compatible ones. Jason Bulmahn explained that you technically still could take classic monk archetypes as an Unchained monk, replacing Unchained class features at the levels indicated by the classic archetype's features, but it wouldn't be nearly as clean, wouldn't work in all cases, nor would it be legal in PFS.
Needless to say, I was a little bummed at that latter response.
13 people marked this as FAQ candidate.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
So, here's your question to get FAQ'd:
When Two-Weapon Fighting while wielding a shield, but not using the shield as a weapon for one of your attacks, do you lose the shield's shield bonus to AC until your next turn?
Alright so the Rules as Written for ALL SHIELDS (bold = emphasis mine):
Ready or Drop a Shield wrote:
Strapping a shield to your arm to gain its shield bonus to your AC, or unstrapping and dropping a shield so you can use your shield hand for another purpose, requires a move action.
Conclusion as Written:
As long as a shield is strapped to your shield arm, you gain the shield's bonus to AC.
Shield (Under Weapons in 'Equipment') wrote:
Shield, Heavy or Light: You can bash with a shield instead of using it for defense.
Refined Conclusion as Written:
As long as a shield is strapped to your shield arm, and you are using the SHIELD for defense, you gain the shield's bonus to AC.
-----
Rules as Written for LIGHT/HEAVY SHIELDS (bold = emphasis mine):
Shield (Under Weapons in 'Equipment') wrote:
Shield, Heavy or Light: You can bash with a shield instead of using it for defense.
Conclusion as Written:
You can use a shield beyond just defending. You can also bash with it.
Shield Bash Attacks (Under Armor in 'Equipment') wrote:
You can bash an opponent with a light shield. See “shield, light” on Table: Weapons for the damage dealt by a shield bash. Used this way, a light shield is a martial bludgeoning weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a light shield as a light weapon. If you use your shield as a weapon, you lose its AC bonus until your next turn. An enhancement bonus on a shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but the shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.
Refined Conclusion as Written:
Using your shield as a weapon (read "for offense"), causes you to lose its AC bonus until your next turn.
So far, the only other thing that prevents you from adding a shield's bonus to AC, aside from not having it strapped to your arm and not using the strapped shield for defense, is using the shield as a weapon.
----
THE EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE:
Improved Shield Bash feat wrote:
When you perform a shield bash (read "using a shield as a weapon"), you may still apply the shield's shield bonus to your AC.
----
No other written rule in the entire Pathfinder series of core rulebooks states another condition for when you lose your shield bonus to AC from a light/heavy shield (aside from being the target of a touch attack).
----
Bucklers and Tower Shields are really no different. If you aren't using the SHIELD for defense, then you don't gain its shield bonus to AC, even if it is strapped to your shield arm. And it is specifically stated that neither a buckler nor a tower shield can be used to shield bash, aka "as a weapon".
----
Nowhere in the Two-Weapon Fighting rules does it say anything about losing your shield bonus to AC, as long as you continue to use it for defense and not as a weapon (at which point it is treated as a one-handed weapon).
----
In conclusion, the Rules As Written for when your shield bonus DOES NOT apply to AC:
When the shield IS NOT strapped to your arm.
When the strapped shield IS NOT being used for defense.
When the strapped shield IS being used as a weapon WITHOUT the Improved Shield Bash feat.
----
It really is pretty straight forward, by RAW.
So what I can rule from RAW is that you can attack with your longsword and then your armor spike (assuming proficiency and that you are Two-Weapon Fighting), with a -4 penalty to your primary attack, and a -8 to your off-hand attack (because an armor spike is treated as a light weapon; -2/-2 if you have TWF feat; and assuming you aren't making iterative attacks with either), AND retain your light/heavy shield's bonus to your AC, because you are still using the shield for defense, and not as a weapon, in this scenario.
I believe many people share this same ruling.
Shield NOT being used for DEFENSE = No Shield Bonus to AC
Shield IS being used for DEFENSE = Shield Bonus to AC
SNEAK PEEK: WESTBOUND VEHICLES
Today's feature is vehicles, Westbound vehicles. Our vehicle artist, Alejandro Lee, did such gorgeous work for the Pure Steam core book, that we had to bring him back for Westbound as well.
Check out our vehicle teaser, and then check out his gallery (can you find the Steam Dragon?).
Don't forget to send some support our way! We only have 24 days left to fund, and still need your help getting there!
SNEAK PEEK: WESTBOUND MONSTERS
Today, I'll feature a sneak peek of the concept art for a couple of the monsters you'll be encountering in Westbound.
We are proud to introduce our new creature artist, Bekah Crowmer, and her concepts for Westbound's Jackalope monster and Clockwork Plagued creature template.
I always thought that iterative attacks should have the same bonus as your base attack bonus, instead of a cumulative -5 for each attack. Ex: At 6th level, a fighter's BAB is +6/+6. Plus this follows pretty closely to how the math philosophy for TWF and Rapid Shot were designed (-2 to each attack; not +0 first attack, -5 second attack). The variable math for each attack is what slows down combat the most.
Valid point. It would, however, require a deflation of damage to balance out expectations of DPR, no? I believe SWSE does this very thing with the two-weapon chains.
I'm sure you could if you wanted, but that's not really the point. Nothing wrong with doing a little more damage to help speed combat along and/or match that wizard's fireball. All I'm saying, is that if you get multiple attacks, your modifier/attack bonus for all attacks that turn should be the same.
I agree, SWSE did a great job with multiple attacks. Everyone only gets one attack, regardless of BAB, unless you take feats. Double Attack gives you two attacks (aside from TWF), with a -5 penalty to each attack. Triple Attack gives you three attacks, with a -10 penalty to each attack. Now -5 and -10 might be a little steep compared to Rapid Shot and TWF, so I would rule that Double Attack is -2 to each, cumulative with TWF penalties (or FoBs) and/or Rapid Shot. Triple Attack would be another -2 to each, cumulative with Double Attack, Rapid Shot and/or TWF (or FoBs).
Related Side note: TWF penalties should be -8/-8 base > -6/-6 if light > -4/-4 if feat > -2/-2 if feat and light.
So the same ruling could apply to iterative attacks; first iterative attack, if taken, imposes a -2 penalty to all attack rolls that turn; second iterative attack, if taken, imposes an additional -2 (-4 total) penalty to all attack rolls that turn. You could move the iterative unlock criteria to BAB +8 and BAB +15, if you think leaving it at BAB +6 and BAB +11 is too much of an early power spike (though I prefer this, as it's rare to see higher level campaigns).
I like the idea of only granting three iterative attacks, or six attacks if you invest all of your resources into the TWF chain (five-feat commitment seems balanced). Five iterative attacks at 16th level is great and all, but you are rolling for days at that point. Plus, limiting it to only max three iterative attacks, you are essentially balancing out DPR at that point.
In summary, if your going to allow multiple attacks, then the modifiers for each attack roll should be the same for all of the attacks. Everything seems to work this way (multiple natural attacks, TWF after feat, Rapid Shot, Flurry of Blows, etc.) except iterative attacks, which I think is silly.
I am working on a homebrew futuristic/sci-fi setting featuring firearms. This is the mechanic I am currently toying with in regards to fully-automatic firearms:
AUTOFIRE ATTACK
As an attack action, a creature wielding a firearm with an autofire mode can make an autofire attack. This is a ranged weapon attack that expends ammunition in a hail of bullets with each pull of the trigger, but the shooter takes a penalty to his attack roll equal to twice the firearm’s recoil penalty. Performing an autofire attack expends 10 rounds of ammunition from a firearm. If a firearm expends less than the required number of rounds of ammunition, it expends all of its remaining ammunition and makes a burst fire attack, but the shooter still takes a penalty to his attack roll equal to twice the firearm’s recoil penalty. A target damaged by an autofire attack, regardless of how many bullets were fired, is always treated as if it were hit by a single bullet if the firearm is firing ammunition with special abilities.
When making an autofire attack, the shooter gains two rerolls that can be spent to reroll any autofire attack rolls, miss chance rolls, or weapon damage rolls made as part of this attack, taking the best result. This choice is made after the roll is made and before the results are revealed. If the shooter rolls the maximum die result on any of his weapon’s damage dice, he can use a reroll to roll that die again, adding the result as extra damage to his damage total.
Alternatively, the shooter can forgo one autofire reroll to target two creatures adjacent to each other, or both autofire rerolls to target three creatures (no two of which can be more than 10 ft. apart), with a single autofire attack. When firing at multiple targets, the shooter makes a separate attack roll and damage roll for each target.
The miss chance granted by concealment effects, such as fog, smoke, darkness, or similar effects, is reduced by 20% against an autofire attack (minimum 0%). If an autofire attack roll misses its target by 5 or less, the target still takes damage equal to the firearm’s minimum damage, unless it has any degree of cover, the evasion ability, or a similar effect, in which case it takes no damage.
---------------------------------------
A machine gun deals 3d4 damage, (critical hits do wound damage in my game [wound/vigor-like system], so damage is not multiplied. x4 would be fine here), range 60ft, (I don't have misfires in my game, but misfire 1 would be fine), capacity 100, recoil penalty (-2). A machine gun can only ever make autofire attacks and 5-round burst fire attacks, it can't make single-shot attacks. For Pathfinder, this would obviously be an advanced firearm.
---------------------------------------
A burst fire attack is essentially an autofire attack (with three different burst settings; 2-round, 3-round, 5-round), but you only take a penalty to your attack rolls equal to the firearm's recoil penalty (not double), you only get one reroll, 2-round burst can't target more than one creature, and 5-round bursts ignore 10% concealment. Burst fire attacks never do half damage on a missed attack.
---------------------------------------
The main purpose of a fully-automatic attack is to maximize damage potential by putting more bullets into your target. How is that accomplished in an RPG? More successful hits equates to more damage, as does higher average weapon die rolls.
Also, I never liked the whole cone-attack/line-attack/area-attack mechanics most games have for automatic weapons. The spray of bullets released in a fully-automatic burst isn't quite as sporadic as many people think them to be (5-10ft spread, at the extreme), especially not in a cone or 10-foot-by-10-foot area. Their rules also rarely cover situations when the shooter focuses on one target, you always have to make an area attack. The collateral in those situations is insane.
@jimibones83 - I must have missed this at the beginning of December, my apologies!
We just sent everything to the printer yesterday. It was a tedious process, as we had to make a few revisions in our book and rebuild our front/back covers to fit their template. All goes well, books should be printed by end of January, and will be available for sale shortly after.
I still have problems with kirth´s "army" for fighters.
To be honest, I've got problems with it, too -- but in the 40+/- years of the game's history, no one has come up with anything better yet.
Something as simple as an ability called "Renown" that gives a fighter a bonus to Diplomacy, Intimidate, and his leadership score for the Leadership feat is enough to give him 10x more narrative power than he had before.
I'm not sure if giving a fighter an army mechanically is the best fix, but giving them an army narratively is the direction that we need to be heading. If a mechanic helps accomplish that, then I am all for it. Being a fighter should mean something to the world. It should demand a certain level of respect or disdain, in the same way that a powerful wizard is to be feared and respected.
The main problem with fighters is that they have no narrative power. Nothing mechanically gives them narrative power. Even the name "Fighter" carries little-to-no narrative heritage or weight. Barbarians are primal fighters, Cavaliers are tactical and charismatic fighters, Rangers are skilled and natural/innate fighters, Paladins/Anti-Paladins are zealous and devout fighters, Clerics (battle) are pious and devout fighters, Rogues are cunning or shifty fighters, Magi are arcane spell-blade fighters, Samurai are honorable and stalwart fighters, Gunslingers are daring fighters. Are we seeing a pattern? All of these classes have a preconceived image just by their name alone, and they all have the ability to "fight".
If I weren't currently in a meeting, I'd probably expand on this more, but hopefully I've said enough to get my point across.
So I've been toying around with the rules for grappling, and I've come to make some drastic changes to how grappling works. At times, grappling can become too cumbersome to the flow of gameplay, and at times can be a pretty sub-par/inferior action option in combat.
So here's what I've done to streamline the grapple action and process a little. With this new grapple mechanic, the Reposition and Drag combat maneuvers no longer exist. Feel free to share your thoughts.
GRAPPLE
As a standard action, you can attempt a grappling maneuver against an adjacent foe, hindering his combat options or forcing him to move to a different location. Humanoid creatures without two free hands attempting to grapple a foe take a –4 penalty on the combat maneuver roll.
If your check is successful, you perform one of the following grapple actions:
Move: As long as your target is no more than one size category larger than you, you can move your target 5 feet to a new location. For every 5 by which your grapple check exceeds your opponent's CMD, you can move your target an additional 5 feet. You can move up to half your speed with the target if you wish, but you must have the available movement to do so. If you moved with your target, at the end of your movement, you can place your target in any square adjacent to you or adjacent to your reach. If you move your target beyond your reach, you cannot maintain the grapple.
If there is another creature in the way of your target’s movement, you must immediately make a grapple check to move that creature as well. You take a –4 penalty on this check for each creature being moved beyond the first; if you are moving with your target, the penalty is reduced to –2 for each creature being moved beyond the first. If you are successful, you can continue to move the creatures a distance equal to the lesser result, but they must be moved in the same direction. An enemy being moved in this way does not provoke an attack of opportunity. You cannot move a creature into a square that is occupied by a solid object or obstacle. If you attempt to place your foe in a hazardous location, such as into an open fire or over a pit, the target receives a free attempt to break free of your grapple with a +4 bonus.
Chokehold: Unless your target is already grappled by you, unaware of you, or otherwise unable to defend against your grapple attempt, you cannot perform the chokehold grapple action. If you can wrap your arms or garrote around your target’s neck, you begin suffocating the target, cutting off its air and blood supply to its brain. While the target is held in the chokehold, it cannot breathe or speak, the penalty to Dexterity and attack rolls and combat maneuver checks imposed on the target while it is grappled increase by 2, and the target may take only a single standard action each round (it can still take free, swift and immediate actions, but not full-round actions). While you are performing a chokehold, you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC.
Each subsequent round you maintain the chokehold with a successful grapple check, you inflict an amount of nonlethal damage to your target as if you had hit with an unarmed strike or natural attack. At the end of each of your target’s turns after you have maintained the chokehold, it must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the amount of damage you inflicted in the previous round) or fall unconscious. If the target breaks free or is released after the first round of the chokehold, it becomes staggered for 1d3 rounds.
As long as you continue to maintain the chokehold, the target must continue to make Fortitude saves, even after it has fallen unconscious. If the target fails its Fortitude save while unconscious, it drops to –1 hit point and is dying. If the target fails its Fortitude save while dying, it dies.
Any creature that does not breathe, has no discernible neck, is immune to bleed damage, or is immune to critical hits is immune to the effects of your chokehold. When the grapple is ended, so is the chokehold. You must have two free hands or be using a garrote to attempt a chokehold.
Damage: You can inflict damage to your target as if you had hit with your unarmed strike, a natural attack, or an attack made with armor spikes or a light or one-handed weapon. This damage can be either lethal or nonlethal.
Restrain: You can hold onto one of your target’s limbs (arm, leg, tentacle, wing, tail, jaws, etc.), preventing your target from using that limb to take actions for 1 round. This action can also be used to cover your target’s mouth if it is a humanoid creature, preventing it from speaking or shouting for 1 round. While restraining your target, you do not gain the +4 circumstance bonus on your grapple check to maintain the hold on the following round.
Pin: If you have your target restrained, you can give your opponent the pinned condition (see Conditions). Despite pinning your opponent, you still only have the grappled condition, but you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC.
Tie Up: If you have your target pinned, otherwise restrained, or unconscious, you can use rope to tie him up. This works like a pin effect, but the DC to escape the bonds is equal to 20 + your Combat Maneuver Bonus (instead of your CMD). The ropes do not need to make a check every round to maintain the pin. If you are simply grappling the target, you can attempt to tie him up in ropes, but doing so requires a combat maneuver check at a –10 penalty. If the DC to escape from these bindings is higher than 20 + the target's CMB, the target cannot escape from the bonds, even with a natural 20 on the check.
Maintaining a Grapple: If your opponent is adjacent to you at the end of your turn, you can choose to maintain your hold on your opponent. If you do, both you and the target gain the grappled condition (see the Appendices). Although both creatures have the grappled condition, you can, as the creature that initiated the grapple, release the grapple as a free action, removing the condition from both you and the target. If you do not release the grapple, you must continue to make a check each round as a standard action at the beginning of your turn to maintain the hold. If your target does not break the grapple, and you are grappling your target with two or more hands, you get a +4 circumstance bonus on grapple checks made against the same target in subsequent rounds. If your check to maintain the hold is successful, you continue grappling the foe and you may perform one of the above grapple actions as part of the standard action spent to maintain the grapple. If your target ever leaves your reach while grappled (if either you or your target is forced to move beyond your reach, for example), the grapple breaks.
If You Are Grappled: If you are grappled, you can attempt to break the grapple as a standard action by making a combat maneuver check (DC equal to your opponent's CMD; this does not provoke an attack of opportunity) or Escape Artist check (with a DC equal to your opponent's CMD). If you succeed, you break the grapple and can act normally. Alternatively, if you succeed, you can become the grappler, grappling the other creature (meaning that the other creature cannot freely release the grapple without making a combat maneuver check, while you can), and may perform one of the above grapple actions as part of the standard action spent to overtake the grapple. Instead of attempting to break or reverse the grapple, you can take any action that doesn't require two hands to perform, such as cast a spell or make an attack or full attack with a light or one-handed weapon against any creature within your reach, including the creature that is grappling you. See the grappled condition for additional details. If you are pinned, your actions are very limited. See the pinned condition in Conditions for additional details.
Multiple Creatures: Multiple creatures can attempt to grapple one target. The creature that first initiates the grapple is the only one that makes a check, with a +2 bonus for each creature that assists in the grapple (using the Aid Another action). When maintaining the grapple, only the creature that initiated the grapple makes a check, with a +2 bonus for each creature that assists in the grapple (using the Aid Another action).
Each time an initiating creature’s grapple check is successful, and it performs the chokehold, damage, pin or restrain grapple action, each creature that assisted in the grapple may perform either the damage or restrain grapple actions (their choice), once per round as a free action without making a grapple check. Any damage inflicted by an assisting creature is added to the Fortitude save DC of the creature resisting a chokehold. If the initiating creature performed the move grapple action, each creature that assisted in the grapple may move with the initiating creature as long as they have movement remaining.
When breaking free of, or escaping from, a grapple with multiple creatures, the grappled creature must break free or escape from only the creature that initiated the grapple, but the initiating creature’s CMD increases by +2 for each creature assisting it in the grapple.
Multiple creatures can also assist another creature in breaking free from a grapple, with each creature that assists (using the Aid Another action) granting a +2 bonus on the grappled creature's combat maneuver check.
Every other class would fall into this category in one way or another, except the fighter.
I agree with most of what you said, but don't forget that the fighter isn't the only class that can inspire that sort of reaction. Rogues and barbarians are fully "mundane" and deserve their share of the spotlight in this area too (depending on the kind of rogue, of course; a stealthy assassin might not want too much influence). I'd also put clerics, paladins and possibly rangers as classes that deserve a fair amount of influence, too.
This is where "Influence bonus by class level" progression chart would come into play, much like D20 Modern, where the more "outgoing" classes progressed faster in Reputation bonus than others. Much like a BAB progression.
Kirth, you bring up a very interesting proposition for the fighter's narrative power. As I know you've seen, though, it's not very well received by "the mob".
Something to remember is that a caster's narrative power is only a result of his decisions. Powerful spells like teleport, mass charm, planar ally, or the like, are simply tools for the caster to overcome foes and obstacles to eventually accomplish a quest or goal. That's how they were designed in game terms. The narrative power of those spells isn't hard-coded or explicitly listed in their mechanics, but instead in how the player utilizes those tools and the GM's reaction.
A fighter with a box of matches can have just as much narrative power as a wizard with the spark cantrip, regardless of level. In a quest to discover who is burning down villages across the countryside, both characters have the same narrative power.
I completely agree with you, however, that at higher levels it's much easier for the actions of a caster to carry more narrative weight than the actions of a martial character. But forcing a difficult and energy-consuming mechanics such as Leadership, cohorts, and kingdom building rules onto a player isn't a good solution. You're essentially giving the player and GM homework, having to track all of the extra NPC information. That's not to say it's a horrible solution though, as the thought behind it has merit.
So is there an easier, more straight forward solution? None that is apparent, but perhaps.
Someone early did bring up the point that a fighter's inherent narrative power (currently) is his ability to slay demons and dragon with nothing more than a sword. That's pretty powerful in its own right. Is it possible to play off that?
D20 Modern had a Reputation system, which aided in equalizing the narrative influence of all players, regardless of their abilities and skills. This could go a long way in far-reaching narrative power for a martial character, but the problem with that system in a fantasy setting is that casters will still have the inherent narrative power of their spells, even if a fighter has the same or higher Reputation score.
In a steam punk campaign setting I am developing with a team of friends, we created a fighter archetype called the Ructioneer; a fighter who's sheer swagger and unorthodox combat style is enough to rattle his foes and belittle their combat prowess. A couple of these concepts could be expanded to all fighters:
Brutal Bravado:
Brutal Bravado (Ex): At 3rd level, the ructioneer’s
overbearing swagger and brutal confidence in combat
unnerves his enemies, leaving them rattled. The ructioneer
gains Dazzling Display as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t
meet the feat’s prerequisites. If the ructioneer already has
the Dazzling Display feat, he can take any other combat
feat instead. Dazzling Display applies to any improvised
weapon or any weapon from the close weapon group.
Whenever the ructioneer hits with a charge attack,
successfully performs a combat maneuver, successfully
feints against an enemy, deals maximum damage on a
weapon damage roll with an improvised or close weapon,
or hits an opponent with at least two attacks during his
turn while wielding an improvised or close weapon, the
ructioneer can use Dazzling Display as a swift action. When
making multiple attacks during his turn, the ructioneer gains
a +2 bonus on his Dazzling Display Intimidate check for
every attack he hits with beyond the second.
Whenever the ructioneer confirms a critical hit, is the
first person to damage an enemy during combat, or reduces
an enemy to 0 or fewer hit points, the ructioneer can use
Dazzling Display as an immediate action. If the ructioneer
gains a special effect on this critical hit from a critical feat, he
gains a +2 bonus on the Dazzling Display Intimidate check.
This ability replaces armor training 1.
What I did with this ability was essentially distill the essence of the Performance Combat system into a single mechanic. It's possible for all fighters to have this sort of influence. And while this is a simple combat mechanic, it can also carry some narrative weight.
Not Your Man:
Not Your Man (Ex): As the mercenary’s mercenary, the
ructioneer brings an undeterred swagger and decisiveness
of action to every fight that others find hard to handle.
Starting at 11th level, when the ructioneer would be hit
by a combat maneuver, he can make an opposed Intimidate
check against the attacker’s combat maneuver check as
an immediate action. If his check succeeds, the ructioneer
negates the combat maneuver. The ructioneer can use this
ability a number of times per day equal to his Charisma
modifier. The ructioneer must be aware of his attacker to
use this ability.
At 15th level, this ability also applies when the ructioneer
would be subject to a rogue’s sneak attack or to precision
damage from attacks such as Vital Strike. The ructioneer
makes an opposed Intimidate check against the attacker’s
attack roll. If his check succeeds, the ructioneer negates
any extra sneak attack or precision damage, and any effect
applied to the sneak attack from rogue talents.
At 19th level, this ability further applies when a foe
confirms a critical hit against the ructioneer. The ructioneer
makes an opposed Intimidate check against the foe’s
confirmation roll. If his check succeeds, the ructioneer
treats the critical hit as a normal hit, and negates any effects
applied from critical feats.
This ability replaces armor training 3 and 4, and armor
mastery.
This ability too was designed for combat use, but still has some narrative weight (should your foes survive the encounter). This could be expanded for the generic fighter, using a system similar to the Samurai's resolve ability.
That inspires another idea; why not roll some of the mechanics of the samurai into the baseline fighter? Those abilities themselves have some pretty outstanding narrative power; honorable stand and last stand, specifically. Otherwise, you already have Grit, which functions similarly to Resolve.
Perhaps a combination of these elements would benefit the fighter than them individually. As I said, the solution isn't clear on how to increase a fighter's narrative influence, but it is something worth pursuing. In the end, these are just some ideas as alternatives to a baseline leadership/cohort-granting ability; which should still exist, but perhaps as a Fighter Talent instead of baseline.
I know it isn't a perfect, high-level-play fix, but in my home games Fighters have the following changes:
- 4 + Int Mod Skill points per level, Perception class skill.
- Fighters gain Combat Style feats like the Ranger, at the same progression as Ranger (2,6,10,14,18; replacing the bonus feat at those levels).
- Fighter Bonus Feat class feature allows fighters to ignore one of a feat's prerequisites when qualifying for a combat feat as a fighter bonus feat (excluding BAB). At 12th level, a fighter can ignore two prerequisites.
- Fighter Bonus Feat class feature allows the Fighter exchange one fighter bonus feat for a new one once per day.
I have been running these changes for nearly a year, and they have been working great.
Combat Style allows Fighters to ignore a good number of prerequisites for feats and allows for a much greater flexibility in ability scores (High STR, low DEX Fighter with Two-Weapon Fighting, for instance).
The Fighter Bonus Feat change allows the Fighter to ignore some feat taxes (Combat Expertise or Improved Unarmed Strike when taking Combat Maneuver feats, for example), allows Fighters to phase out obsolete feats (Cleave for Great Cleave or Vital Strike for Improved Vital Strike, for example), and allows Fighters to be more adaptable to situations with their feats or fighting styles as they adventure.
Say you had Weapon Focus (longsword), but you found an awesome magical bastard sword. Before, you either had to suffer the feat loss and use the bastard sword two-handed, or sack the item for extra gold. Now, you are able to exchange Weapon Focus for Exotic Weapon Prof. (bastard sword) and/or Weapon Focus (bastard sword) over the course of a couple of days instead of a couple of levels.
The thread in which I posted these homebrew changes can be found in my profile.
Of course, these changes don't address the saves issue, mobility issue, and the magic item reliance, but they certainly help a fighter be more of a fighter and to make the class be more unique from other martial classes.
So after one of my players brought up an interesting idea, I did a little thinking and decided to rework my homebrew fighter.
Here's what I did:
Class Skills:
The fighter's class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str). {Players were choosing most of these skills anyhow, so I just reinstated the classic skill list, adding Perception.}
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Bonus Feats:
Bonus Feats: At 1st level, and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement (meaning that the fighter gains a feat at every level). These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as combat feats, sometimes also called “fighter bonus feats.”
Starting at 2nd level, when qualifying for a fighter bonus feat, a fighter may ignore one of the feat's ability score or feat prerequisites. At 6th level, a fighter may ignore up to two of a feat's prerequisites, including base attack bonus prerequisites of +11 or less, when qualifying for a fighter bonus feat. At 10th level, a fighter may ignore up to three of a feat's prerequisites, including base attack bonus prerequisites of +16 or less, when qualifying for a fighter bonus feat. For example, when qualifying for the Improved Disarm feat, a fighter may ignore either the 13 Intelligence or the Combat Expertise feat prerequisite when selecting the feat as a fighter bonus feat. At 6th level, he may ignore both.
Starting at 4th level, once per day, after getting 8 hours of sleep and then spending 1 hour of martial training, a fighter can choose to learn one new fighter bonus feat in place of one fighter bonus feat he has already learned. In effect, the fighter loses his fighter bonus feat in exchange for a new one. The old feat cannot be one that is used as a prerequisite for another feat (unless you are able to ignore the feat prerequisite of the new feat), prestige class, or other ability.
This should keep the fighter competitive with the ranger's combat style ability, and its ability to ignore feat prerequisites, while still allowing the ranger's combat style ability to still be unique and advantageous if a few cases (at 2nd level, a ranger can ignore up to two prerequisites for a select few combat feats, a fighter can ignore one prerequisite for all combat feats; at 6th level, a ranger can ignore up to four prerequisites with a select few combat feats, a fighter can ignore up to two prerequisites for all combat feats; at 10th level, a ranger can ignore up to five prerequisites for a select few combat feats, a fighter can ignore up to three prerequisites for all combat feats).
Combat Style has been removed.
In essence, this change could allow you to switch out obsolete feats for their upgrade (i.e. no more Combat Expertise collecting dust in one of your feat slots). For example, at 4th level, as long as you had the Power Attack feat and 13 Strength prerequisites, you could switch out Cleave for Great Cleave. Likewise, at 6th level, as long as you had either the Combat Expertise feat or the 13 Intelligence prerequisite, you could switch out Improved Feint for Greater Feint.
This change also allows greater flexibility in builds, as you aren't as hampered by ability score requirements as before. This means that a Str-based fighter can obtain the two-weapon fighting chain, or that a low Int fighter can more easily obtain combat maneuver feats.
Fighter Base Class:
Level......Special
1st..........Bonus Feat
2nd..........Bravery +1, bonus feat
3rd..........Armor training 1
4th..........Bonus feat
5th..........Weapon training 1
6th..........Bravery +2, bonus feat
7th..........Armor training 2
8th..........Bonus feat
9th..........Weapon training 2
10th.........Bravery +3, bonus feat
11th.........Armor training 3
12th.........Bonus feat
13th.........Weapon training 3
14th.........Bravery +4, bonus feat
15th.........Armor training 4
16th.........Bonus feat
17th.........Weapon training 4
18th.........Bravery +5, bonus feat
19th.........Armor mastery
20th.........Bonus feat, weapon mastery
This new change to fighter bonus feats has yet to be tested, so the only balancing I have done has been theorycrafting and rules comparison. Thoughts?
The source of a chaplain's power is the mysterious soci etas [so-see eh-tayse], an energy source derived from society itself. A chaplain's power comes from the belief and expectations of the people around her; from community. Society look to chaplain's for guidance, wisdom, and solace in an age where religion is waning.
Simply, a chaplain has power because people expect/rely on them to, much like how a politician or pastor only has power because a community has appointed them the title. Think of it as the reverse relationship of a cleric and his deity; a cleric must believe in his deity in order to gain his powers, whereas a society believes in a chaplain so therefore she has power.
I need to clarify, though, that not every leader or politician automatically becomes a chaplain. Like sorcerers, a chaplain is born with the potential for power, but that power must be awakened by a community's or society's need for a chaplain. For a chaplain to lose her powers, the philosophy of society itself would need to vanish, the society that relies on the chaplain would need to physically disappear, or the society would need to outright and unanimously disown the chaplain.
The workings of soci etas were left vague and unexplained on purpose, to allow players to come up with their own definitions of what that power is. The explanation above, however, is how we envisioned it and what could be drawn from the explanation of the power source found in the chaplain class' descriptive fluff text.
I hoped this helped! If you have further questions, please feel free to share.
A really simple fix that could be easily errata'd would be (emphasis = new addition/alteration):
Stealth wrote:
Check: Your Stealth check is opposed by the Perception check of anyone who might notice you. If your check succeeds, you go unnoticed to that creature until after you make an attack or take a violent action, or until you end your turn within that creature's line of sight without cover or concealment. You can move up to half your normal speed and use Stealth at no penalty. When moving at a speed greater than half but less than your normal speed, you take a –5 penalty. It's impossible to use Stealth while running, or charging, or as part of an attack or other violent action.
Adding those couple of sentences shouldn't be too hard in the space they have in the Core Rulebook, doesn't require an entire rewrite of the rules, and that clarification should solve most of the issues you all are bringing up here on the forums. This is how I run Stealth in my games, anyhow.
After reading through the "Main Problem with Fighters" thread, I decided to post the homebrew tweaks I've been using for the fighters in my home games.
Class Skills
This tweak is pretty common; change the fighter skill points per level to 4. However, I also decide to give the fighter a tad bit more versatility by removing a few of the classic fighter skills, keeping the basics, and then allowing fighters to choose 4 additional skills of their choice as class skills.
Class Skills:
The fighter's class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Swim (Str), and four additional skills of the fighter’s choice.
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Bonus Feats
So kind of a different change here, made in the name of martial versatility which I felt the fighter desperately deserved. I reduced the number of fighter bonus feats gained by level 20 to just six, but also gave the fighter more versatility with his fighter bonus feats, allowing him to retrain them at the start of each day. Fear not, a fighter still gets some kind of bonus feat every other level (and thus retains his feat every level progression).
Bonus Feats:
Bonus Feats: At 1st level, and at every three levels thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement. These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as combat feats, sometimes also called “fighter bonus feats.”
A fighter does not need to meet the prerequisites of an Improved combat maneuver feat (such as Improved Trip) when selecting the feat as his fighter bonus feat.
Starting at 4th level, once per day, after getting 8 hours of sleep and spending 1 hour practicing his martial training, a fighter can choose to learn new fighter bonus feats in place of any fighter bonus feats he has already learned (this does not include combat style bonus feats). In effect, the fighter loses his fighter bonus feats in exchange for new ones. The old feats cannot be ones that are used as a prerequisite for another feat, prestige class, or other ability.
Combat Style Feats
Yep, combat style feats. I know this change isn't quite innovative as some would prefer, but my reasoning behind it kind of is. The largest boon of the combat style feature is it's ability to grant feats while ignoring prerequisites, and that really screamed "fighter" to me. Yes, you have to shoehorn your fighter's concept into a combat style, but aren't most fighters already doing that to some degree with the weapon training class feature?
With this addition, the fighter keeps his feat-a-level progression, but also gains the ability to grab the feats he needs without some of the heavy feat tax. Now, the fighter still needs to pay that feat tax if he wants to continue down a feat chain outside of his combat style feats and fighter bonus feats, so I thought that was justification enough to make the changes I did.
I have also created a couple of new combat styles for players that couldn't use the current combat styles to create their concept. Creating new combat styles isn't too difficult.
Combat Style Feats:
Combat Style Feats: At 2nd level, a fighter must select one of the many ranger combat styles to pursue. The fighter's expertise manifests in the form of bonus feats at 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level. He can choose feats from his selected combat style, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites.
Fighter Base Class:
Level......Special
1st..........Bonus Feat
2nd..........Bravery +1, combat style feat
3rd..........Armor training 1
4th..........Bonus feat
5th..........Weapon training 1
6th..........Bravery +2, combat style feat
7th..........Armor training 2
8th..........Bonus feat
9th..........Weapon training 2
10th.........Bravery +3, combat style feat
11th.........Armor training 3
12th.........Bonus feat
13th.........Weapon training 3
14th.........Bravery +4, combat style feat
15th.........Armor training 4
16th.........Bonus feat
17th.........Weapon training 4
18th.........Bravery +5, combat style feat
19th.........Armor mastery
20th.........Bonus feat, weapon mastery
I have been testing these homebrew tweaks for nearly half a year now, and I have yet to run into any gameplay issues. They have been compatible with nearly every fighter archetype without causing any disruption, so far. I've seen an increase in PC fighters, as well as fighter spot-lighting both in and out of combat. And my players typically feel much better about playing a fighter than they did in the past thanks to the added versatility.
As a disclaimer, most of my players are roleplayers first, and munchkins last, so that may skew things a little, but I can't imagine by much.
I'm not familiar with frigid touch offhand, but I assume it requires a touch attack and does not stagger on a miss? That means it does not auto-stagger because there is a (possibly small) chance it won't happen.
Yes, you are correct, my apologies. I meant that the target is staggered on a hit, in addition to taking damage, without a saving throw. On a critical hit with frigid touch, the target is staggered for 1 minute. However, touch attacks are often more effective than save-spells, as touch AC is usually quite low (and touch attacks scale with BAB), while the DC for daze monster would always be at least 12, and an enemy's Will save scales.
Daze monster couldn't crit, of course, but compared to being staggered for 1 minute, staggered for 1 round is hardly game breaking.
I don't know. I play a magus that uses frigid touch quite often, and having the enemy staggered for 1 round is beneficial for sure, but not always combat altering. Sometimes it is barely noticeable, as the enemy usually still makes its one attack or charges, and still deals damage. Only when the enemy is staggered for that 1 minute, do things sway heavily in the PCs favor.
Not to mention how precious 2nd level spells are. For my magus, using frigid touch is a huge decision, even at 8th level, as I don't have that many 2nd level spells, and I still need to be concerned about my defenses. It isn't like I am using frigid touch each round, keeping the enemy stagger-locked. The same would be true for daze monster. You could spam it each round, sure, but at a huge cost.
The first issue I see is the Bard spell list. The Bard as nearly 0 touch spells, making spellstrike completely useless. Also, several of the Bard's spells require a bardic performance, which the magus does not have.
Second, the cleric also has very few touch spells aside from cure or inflict, and you either need to be neutral or evil to cast inflict spells. So again, spellstrike is useless.
Third, you cannot use spell combat with light shields, but you can with bucklers, as they don't require a hand to wield. And just making you ignore the ASFC of a buckler just kind of seems silly when you could be wearing medium armor.
These are my suggestions for the archetype:
I'd say that if you aren't going to replace Spellstrike with something, then you should give the red mage back his magus spell list.
Make "true blending" work off the bard spell list (but change the name to something like "Harmonic blending").
You will need to either alter the two arcana you provided to allow the red mage to cast cleric/bard spells using spell combat or spellstrike (like the arcana Broad Study), or create a class feature that does this (this would be my vote)
-- I would create the class feature because Broad Study requires you to both be level 6 and to have at least 1 level in the other class. That's steep to make your archetype work. In light of that, you would need to balance a class feature that doesn't require you to have a level in the other class.
If you are going to drop the martial weapon proficiencies, then just allow a red mage to ignore the ASFC from bucklers to balance that out.
If you don't want the red mage to wear heavy armor, then come up with a class feature for lvl 7 and keep medium armor at 13th.
Pure Steam is indeed still in development, and we are currently working toward a public playtest as we speak. The development team consists of only four people with busy personal lives, so deadlines are constantly being pushed back, but the project is still moving forward. We are pushing to have the playtest available on Paizo sometime in early 2013.
While we don't have full-color art inside the book, we are paying for a full-color spread for the book's/pdf's front and back covers. Pure Steam will provide a unique setting, variants for existing races, two new base classes, several archetypes, lots of new equipment, and some new feats and creatures. The book will indeed be hardcover.
Links to the Kickstarter Project and our site (still in its infancy) are available in my Paizo profile.
Quick update guys, we are still hard at work getting our public beta playtest together. We are currently in the development of the Gearhead base class, one of the two headlining base classes in our campaign setting.
The Gearhead is a steam punk technosavant. His key class feature is his contraptions; weird science devices that supernaturally emulate the effects of magical spells, much like wands. A gearhead's other abilities revolve around innovating technology (armor, weapons, vehicles, and his contraptions), as well as his engineering expertise.
We are also currently developing new creatures, such as non-magical golems and scientifically reanimated zombies.
Stay tuned for future updates as we still have a good amount of content in the pipeline for development.
Sling-shot: 1d3(S); 1d4(M); 19-20/x2; 50ft range; B and P damage
Bullet, Sling-shot (10)
Requires two-hands to shoot. Strength modifier to damage. Loading a sling-shot is a swift action that requires two hands and provokes attacks of opportunity. Rapid Reload (Sling-shot) reduces to free action. Can be used while mounted, can't be used while prone.
Can be used like an improvised whip against adjacent creatures?
Chivalric Knights strive to uphold the honor and creed of their Order through martial discipline and unwavering resolve.
Knight Protector (Ex): At 1st level, whenever the chivalric knight is adjacent to an ally that has fewer than one-half its total hit points, or that is suffering from an adverse condition (such as fatigued, shaken, sickened, helpless, etc), the chivalric knight gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls. These bonuses last for as long as the chivalric knight remains adjacent to the wounded ally, until the ally is cured of the adverse condition, or until the ally is healed above one-half its total hit points.
At 5th level, and every four levels thereafter, the bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls increases by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 17th level.
This ability replaces mount.
Armored Charge (Ex): At 3rd level, the chivalric knight does not suffer any penalty to his AC after making a charge attack. In addition, a chivalric knight can also move at his normal speed while wearing medium armor and can run at quadruple speed while in heavy armor, instead of only triple speed. At 7th level, he can move at his normal speed while wearing heavy armor.
This ability replaces cavalier's charge.
Shining Example (Ex): The chivalric knight often rises to expectations of him and the order he represents. Starting at 4th level, the chivlaric knight adds one-half his cavalier level to all skill checks made with the skills of his Order. If his Order already allows him to add one-half his cavalier level to certain Order skill checks, the chivalric knight instead adds his total cavalier level to those skill checks.
This ability replaces expert trainer.
Mettle (Ex): The chivalric knight's drive to uphold the honor of his order grants him unparalleled resilience in battle. Starting at 11th level, whenever the chivalric knight succeeds on a Fortitude or Will save against a spell or spell-like ability that has a "partial" and/or "half" effect even on a successful save, he is completely unaffected by it.
This ability replaces mighty charge.
Lead the Attack (Ex): At 20th level, whenever the chivalric knight makes a charge attack, all allies within sight gain inspiration from the chivalric knight's fearless act of valor. If an affected ally makes a charge attack before the start of the chivalric knight's next turn, their attack roll bonus for charging doubles and they do not suffer the charging penalty to AC.
In addition, if the chivalric knight confirms a critical hit while charging, all enemies within 30ft that can see him become shaken for a number of rounds equal to the chivalric knight's Charisma modifier.
This ability replaces supreme charge.
That should make the Chivalric Knight less of a skill monkey, and more flavor-text appropriate.
Whatever happened to playing a race/class combo because you liked the roleplaying aspect of it? If I wanted to play optimized characters, I would play WoW! :)
