Brodiggan Gale Mark2's page

Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.

Monk damage scales pretty badly, the 2d10 base damage at 20 looks impressive on paper, but is really a very minor bump in terms of average damage. Weapon enchantments and feats add far, far more damage for the armed melee classes. Flurry and bonus attacks from spending ki help to an extent, but monks still really needed a small boost to damage, especially considering their need for so many stats. Which brings us to the first change..

the monks AC bonus is replaced by a Combat Bonus, which is added to both their AC and to the damage they deal with unarmed attacks and monk weapons. (to be clear, a monk still adds their wisdom to AC only, the Combat bonus uses only the +1 to +5 miscellaneous bonus a monk normally gets to add to their AC)

Wholeness of Body- Again, healing 1 hp per level as a standard action is absolutely useless. There will almost always be better options in combat, and out of combat it would be a waste of Ki.

As a replacement, monks receive Wholeness of Body (Su): At 7th level or higher, a monk can temporarily increase their ability to withstand wounds. A monk may add a +2 ki bonus to his Constitution for a number of rounds equal to his wisdom mod as a free action. At 11th level this bonus improves to +4, and at 15th level it improves to +6. Activating this ability uses 2 points from the monk’s ki pool.

This gives monks an ability that fills the same role of mitigating damage, and as a free action it will actually see use. This is considerably more powerful than the old Wholeness of body, but Monks also had a lot of so so abilities at high level, and this gives them a very good reason to continue taking levels of Monk.

Ki also seems to run out very, very fast, considering you only get 1/2 your monk level + your Wis mod. With multiple abilities that depend on it for use, it seemed like Monks could use a few more points per day.

Restful Meditation (Ex): Starting at 8th level, a monk may refill their ki pool once per day by spending an hour in restful meditation.

This gives monks a way of getting back in the game after a hard fight, but still keeps them limited to an appropriate amount of ki in any single fight.

Lastly, I changed Quivering palm to once per day, instead of once per week. Nothing game breaking here, it's no worse than a wizard with Symbol of Death (to be honest, it's actually considerably less deadly) and considering this is supposed to be a sort of capstone big end game ability, it needed a bit of a bump.

Monk (http://rapidshare.com/files/128958263/Monk.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any Lawful
Hit Die: d8
Trained Saves: All.

Level / BAB / Special
1st / +0/ Bonus feat, flurry of blows, unarmed strike
2nd / +1 / Bonus feat, evasion
3rd / +2 / Maneuver training, still mind
4th / +3 / Ki pool (magic), slow fall 20 ft., Twofold Gaze
5th / +3 / High jump, purity of body
6th / +4/ Bonus feat, slow fall 30 ft.
7th / +5 / Wholeness of body
8th / +6 / Restful Meditation, Slow fall 40 ft.
9th / +6 / Improved evasion
10th / +7/ Bonus feat, ki pool (lawful), slow fall 50 ft.
11th / +8 / Diamond body
12th / +9/ Abundant step, slow fall 60 ft.
13th / +9 / Diamond soul
14th / +10 / Bonus feat, slow fall 70 ft.
15th / +11 / Quivering palm
16th / +12 / Ki pool (adamantine), slow fall 80 ft.
17th / +12 / Timeless body, tongue of the sun and moon
18th / +13 / Bonus feat, slow fall 90 ft.
19th / +14 / Empty body
20th / +15 / Perfect self, slow fall any distance

Class Skills
The monk’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (warfare) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Int modifier

Class Features
The following are class features of the monk.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Monks are proficient with the club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling. Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields.
When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses his AC bonus, as well as his fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.

Monk damage didn’t scale quite well enough, the 2d6/8/10 looks impressive, but on average it’s only a point or two above what an armed fighter could have, and with a lot of drawbacks (for instance, it’s pretty hard to get flaming/shocking/keen fists, and feats like Power attack favor big two handers, not many feats help unarmed attacks to the same extent.)

To help monks keep up at later levels, I changed the AC bonus to a Combat bonus, that adds to both damage and AC.

Combat Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC and melee damage at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four monk levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

The bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat footed. A monk loses these bonuses and the bonus damage when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load.

Monk Unarmed Combat Bonuses
Level/Combat Bonus/Small Damage/Medium Damage/Large damage/Flurry/Speed
1st / +0/ 1d4 / 1d6 / 1d8 / x1 (-2)/ +0 ft.
2nd / +0/ 1d4/ 1d6 / 1d8/ x1 (-2)/ +0 ft.
3rd / +0/ 1d4/ 1d6 / 1d8/ x1 (-2)/ +10 ft.
4th / +1/ 1d6 / 1d8 / 2d6 / x1 (-2)/ +10 ft.
5th / +1/ 1d6/ 1d8 / 2d6/ x1 (-1)/ +10 ft.
6th / +1/ 1d6/ 1d8 / 2d6/ x1 (-1)/ +20 ft.
7th / +1/ 1d6/ 1d8 / 2d6/ x1 (-1)/ +20 ft.
8th / +2/ 1d8 / 1d10 / 2d8 / x1 (-1)/ +20 ft.
9th / +2/ 1d8/ 1d10 / 2d8/ x1/ +30 ft.
10th / +2/ 1d8/ 1d10 / 2d8/ x1/ +30 ft.
11th / +2/ 1d8/ 1d10 / 2d8/ x2/ +30 ft.
12th / +3/ 1d10 / 2d6 / 3d6 / x2/ +40 ft.
13th / +3/ 1d10/ 2d6 / 3d6/ x2/ +40 ft.
14th / +3/ 1d10/ 2d6 / 3d6 / x2/ +40 ft.
15th / +3/ 1d10/ 2d6 / 3d6/ x2/ +50 ft.
16th / +4/ 2d6 / 2d8 / 3d8/ x2/ +50 ft.
17th / +4/ 2d6/ 2d8 / 3d8/ x2/ +50 ft.
18th / +4/ 2d6/ 2d8 / 3d8/ x3/ +60 ft.
19th / +4/ 2d6/ 2d8 / 3d8/ x3/ +60 ft.
20th / +5/ 2d8 / 2d10 / 4d8/ x3/ +60 ft.

Flurry of Blows (Ex): When unarmored, a monk may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, he may make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a –2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the monk might make before his next action. When a monk reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to –1, and at 9th level it disappears. A monk must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blows.
When using flurry of blows, a monk may attack only with unarmed strikes or with special monk weapons (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham).
He may attack with unarmed strikes and special monk weapons interchangeably as desired. When using weapons as part of a flurry of blows, a monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether he wields a weapon in one or both hands. The monk can’t use any weapon other than a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows.
In the case of the quarterstaff, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though the quarterstaff requires two hands to use, a monk may still intersperse unarmed strikes with quarterstaff strikes, assuming that he has enough attacks in his flurry of blows routine to do so.

One change, here a the end of Flurry. At 18th level I added one more attack, to better parallel the two weapon fighting series of feats. Considering it doesn’t kick in until 18th level, I don’t feel this is really going to be unbalancing, a cross class monk could easily have the same number of attacks per round at that point by taking levels in a full BAB class starting at 13th level.

When a monk reaches 11th level, his flurry of blows ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack he gets from flurry of blows, he gets a second extra attack at his full base attack bonus. When a monk reaches 18th level, his flurry of blows ability improves. He gets a third extra attack at his full base attack bonus.

Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with either fist or with elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
Bonus Feat: At 1st level, 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a monk may select a bonus feat. These feats must be taken from the following list: Caught Off-Guard, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Scorpion Style, Stunning Fist, and Throw Anything. At 6th level, the following feats are added to the list: Gorgon’s Fist, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, and Mobility. At 10th level, the following feats are added to the list: Improved Critical, Medusa’s Wrath, Snatch Arrows, and Spring Attack. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.
Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher, if a monk makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a monk is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk gains an enhancement bonus to his speed. A monk in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.
Maneuver Training (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk uses his monk level in place of his base attack bonus when calculating his combat maneuver bonus. Base attack bonuses granted from other classes are unaffected and are added normally.
Still Mind (Ex): A monk of 3rd level or higher gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the school of enchantment.
Ki Pool (Su): At 4th level, a monk’s gains a pool of ki, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. A monk’s ki pool is equal to one half his monk level plus his Wisdom modifier. As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike. At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Ki strike improves with the character’s monk level. At 10th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as lawful weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. At 16th level, his unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness.
By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a monk can make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack. In addition, he can spend 1 point to increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round. Finally, a monk can spend 1 point from his ki pool to give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round. Each of these powers is activated as a swift action. A monk gains additional powers that consume points from his ki pool as he gains levels. The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation.
Slow Fall (Ex): At 4th level or higher, a monk within arm’s reach of a wall can use it to slow his descent. When first using this ability, he takes damage as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is. The monk’s ability to slow his fall (that is, to reduce the effective distance of the fall when next to a wall) improves with his monk level until at 20th level he can use a nearby wall to slow his descent and fall any distance without harm.

With the change to Touch Attacks monks were losing 4 ac vs. casters, compared to standard Pathfinder. Considering monks are sort of supposed to be a rock to casters scissors, I wasn’t too happy about this. I added Twofold Gaze to get Monks back up to speed vs. touch spells, and to add some interesting strategy to the combat conditions changes I’m using.

The name of the ability, if anyone is curious, is from a Miyamoto Musashi quote, “The gaze should be large and broad. This is the twofold gaze ‘Perception and Sight’. Perception is strong and sight weak.”

Twofold Gaze (Ex): At 4th level, a monk is instinctively aware of any opening in his defense, and is never considered vulnerable. Touch attacks against the monk are made against their full AC, with no additional bonuses from vulnerability.

High Jump (Ex): At 5th level, a monk adds his level to all Acrobatics checks made to jump, both for vertical jumps and horizontal jumps. In addition, he always counts as having a running start when making jump checks using Acrobatics. By spending 1 point from his ki pool as a swift action, a monk gains a +20 bonus on Acrobatics checks made to jump for 1 round.
Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, a monk gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.

1 hp per monk level felt far too weak as a standard action, much like the barbarian self heal, it would almost always be more advantageous to simply attack, or to use an ability (such as stunning fist) to prevent an attacker from damaging you instead.

I needed to change it to a free action to make it usable in combat without sacrificing a round, but that brings up it’s own problems, if a monk is willing to blow enough ki, the additional healing availble might be a bit too nice. To keep it in line I’ve changed the effect to a Con buff, this effectively heals the monk, because of the added hp, but it won’t stack with itself, preventing abuse. I’ve also made it a bit more effective at higher levels, as damage taken tends to scale much faster than level. I also wanted to differentiate the monks ability slightly, give it something a bit more interesting that might have useful benefits to multiclass characters. and for races or classes with Con dependent abilities, this might open up some interesting options.

Wholeness of Body (Su): At 7th level or higher, a monk can temporarily increase their ability to withstand wounds. A monk may add a +2 ki bonus to his Constitution for a number of rounds equal to his wisdom mod as a free action. At 11th level this bonus improves to +4, and at 15th level it improves to +6. Activating this ability is a free action that uses 2 points from the monk’s ki pool.

The number of ki points available to high level monks felt far too low, especially with multiple abilities to use that cost 2 ki per. Just upping the amount of ki monks have would be a mistake though, it would unbalance 3.5 classes like Ninja, that also have a ki pool (that presumably stacks). So I added the ability to refill their ki pool once per day, with appropriate rest.

Restful Meditation (Ex): Starting at 8th level, a monk may refill their ki pool once per day by spending an hour in restful meditation.

Improved Evasion (Ex): At 9th level, a monk’s evasion ability improves. He still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.
Diamond Body (Su): At 11th level, a monk gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.
Abundant Step (Su): At 12th level or higher, a monk can slip magically between spaces, as if using the spell dimension door. Using this ability is a move-equivalent action that consumes 2 points from his ki pool. His caster level for this effect is 1/2 his monk level.
Diamond Soul (Ex): At 13th level, a monk gains spell resistance equal to his current monk level + 10. In order to affect the monk with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the monk’s spell resistance.

I changed quivering palm from once per week to once per day to standardize it a bit (there are very, very few other abilities that aren’t either once per day, at will, or some number of times per day. Otherwise, the ability is essentially unchanged.

Quivering Palm (Su): Starting at 15th level, a monk can set up vibrations within the body of another creature that can thereafter be fatal if the monk so desires. He can use this quivering palm attack once per day, and he must announce his intent before making his attack roll. Creatures immune to critical hits cannot be affected.

If the monk strikes successfully and the target takes damage from the blow, the quivering palm attack succeeds. Thereafter, the monk can attempt to slay the victim at any time, as long as the attempt is made within a number of days equal to his monk level. To make such an attempt, the monk merely wills the target to die (a free action), and unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the monk’s level + the monk’s Wis modifier), it dies. If the saving throw is successful, the target is no longer in danger from that particular quivering palm attack, but it may still be affected by another one at a later time.
Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 17th level, a monk no longer takes penalties to his ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that he has already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the monk still dies of old age when his time is up.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon (Ex): A monk of 17th level or higher can speak with any living creature.
Empty Body (Su): At 19th level, a monk gains the ability to assume an ethereal state for 1 minute as though using the spell etherealness. Using this ability is a move action that consumes 3 points from his ki pool.
Perfect Self: At 20th level, a monk becomes a magical creature. He is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the monk’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the monk gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows him to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if he were a member of his previous creature type.

Ex-Monks
A monk who becomes nonlawful cannot gain new levels as a monk but retains all monk abilities.

Brodiggan Gale Mark2 wrote:

Hehe, well, I'm at work right now, but later on I'll be happy to crank out a few associated creatures.

Nice. In the spirit of the community-driven OGC monster design, I'll provide some basic concept behind those names. :-D

Elderspawn: a larger, more alien version of the Elderborn. Some say that it is more akin to the true nature of the eldercreatures. Its mere presence can twist the mind and the body of the less able, and corrupt the world.
While it has a less humanoid figure, its features are at the same time more bestial and more refined, mirroring both its advanced inner abilities and its upgraded physical strenght. Quite often acts as a religious focus for the Elderborn (in a twisted, eldercreature way).

Elderthrall: this name includes a broad variety of humanoid creatures in an advanced state of mutation towards the eldercreature standard. Some are born out of wicked experiments, other are a product of selective breeding, others again are fanatics undergoing a magical trasformation. Many see them as a link between the lower Elder-blooded creature and the full Elderborn status.
Many of them sport basic Elderborn features, but in a larval, and often more savage twist. A few of them remain suspended in this transitionary condition, with advanced abilities but underdeveloped minds.

Elderbrood: this creature defies any mortal concept of living (and undead) being, as it is so much alien and strange that just looking at it too long can be dangerous for the health.
The closer idea that sages can formulate about it is a swarming mass of individuals in a constant mutating condition, each of them absolving the role of an organ or appendix, all the while being governed by an unconceivable hive mind.

Elderfiend: very few mortals have seen an elderfiend and survived to tell about it. Some say that it is an ancient, lich-like Elderborn. Others described something so big and monstruous that the largest Elderspawn cannot even compare. A few have hinted of a quasi-extraplanar nature that defies both weaponry and magic. What is certain is that an Elderfiend stands at the core of an eldercreature enclave, all-powerful and carefully protected (and hidden).

Elder-blooded creature: these unfortunate beings are the by products of Elderborn experiments, both with alien science and twisted, horrendous magic. The template can be applied to almost any creature, even outsiders, with the notable exception of fey-related beings (their ties with the First World somehow protect them). A disturbingly growing number of elder-blooded sentient creatures are willing subjects of the transformation.

I like most of these a lot, especially the potential mix of creature types, all following a theme, and obviously related, but not all necessarily aberration.

I'll definitely be writing up a few of these. The only one I'm unsure of is Elder-Thrall/Elder-Blooded. These seem to occupy a lot of the same design space, I'd rather write them up as a single template, and include a descriptive note about the various conditions in which they might be found (servants, experiments, escaped and free willed, etc.)

Along with these I was going to write up an advanced version of the standard Elderborn, The Dreaming Ones, ancient Elderborn that have fallen into a dreaming madness, manifesting repeatedly via astral projection and plane shift, near impossible to permanently destroy as a result. Whispering dark secrets and terrible truths into the minds of the weak, they prey equally upon the races of man, and upon their own kin.

or something like that... ::grin::

Brodiggan Gale Mark2 wrote:

I concur completely. So completely, I think I'll just go ahead and whip a design out for Elderborn.

... *CUT* ...

Beautiful. I can see this as a Pathfinder-style critter.

Now we need a tougher Elderspawn, a lesser Elderthrall, a disturbing Elderbrood, and a cunning Elderfiend.
And maybe a Elder-blooded template, just to stick to the Cthulhu-esque theme.

Hehe, well, I'm at work right now, but later on I'll be happy to crank out a few associated creatures.

I know it takes some reading, and with my post appearing at the bottom of the thread it won't show up well, but this post is exactly the kind of introspection into the PRPG and the 3.5e rules issues that is needed.

Hope that makes sense.

::grin:: Thank you, that seriously means a lot. There's more to come too, work and sleep have just been getting in the way lately.

The Jade wrote:

Here it is... (drumroll)... Elderborn. Hah? Haaaaaaaaaaah?

Mikey likes it.

Mikey likes it a lot.

I concur completely. So completely, I think I'll just go ahead and whip a design out for Elderborn.

Elderborn
Size/Type: Medium Aberration (Aquatic)
Hit Dice: 9d8+36 (76 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), swim 40 ft.
Armor Class: 18 (+2 Dex, +6 Natural), touch 12, flat-footed 16
Base Attack Bonus: +7
Combat Maneuver Bonus: +9
Attack: Tentacle +9 (1d6+3 and improved grab)
Full Attack: 4 Tentacles +9/+9/+9/+9 (1d6+3 and improved grab)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Glimpse of Madness, Improved Grab, Deadly Grip, Psionics
Special Qualities: Amphibious, Aquatic subtype, Atypical treasure, darkvision 60 ft., Telepathy (60 ft.)
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +11
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 26, Wis 21, Cha 19
Skills: Bluff +19, Diplomacy +16, Knowledge (Arcana) +20, Perception +20, Sense Motive +17, Spellcraft +20, Stealth +14, Swim +14, Use Magic Device +16
Feats: Ability Focus (Glimpse of Madness), Skill Focus (Bluff), Skill Focus (Perception), Improved Initiative
Environment: Cold Aquatic and Underground
Organization: Solitary, Pair, or Brood (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 10
Treasure: Double Standard
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 10-16 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: -

A dark figure in heavy robes eyes you menacingly. It's cold grey skin glimmers with sea water, stretched too tight over emaciated flesh. It's eyes are deep inky pits rimmed in bone, flat squid-like eyes designed for the deeper places than this, and beneath them writhe four grasping tentacles with maddening intensity.

Elderborn are cold and implacable foes that haunt the deep places of the world. They worship a dark god of madness, Cthulhu, and prepare patiently for his return.

In combat Elderborn will rarely face their foes directly until they are assured of victory. Instead, they will use their spell-like abilities and Glimpse into Madness special abilities to disable and weaken their foes, only taking the field when they must.

Elderborn are brilliant tacticians and endlessly patient, and may work for months or years towards seemingly minor goals. Though they are frighteningly effective liars, twisting the truth to fit their needs at will, they are utterly unconcerned with the fates of other mortal beings and will not typically deign to bother attempting subterfuge against them.

Combat
Elderborn attack by attempting to grab their foes using their tentacles, though they prefer to fight at a distance using special abilities.

Glimpse of Madness (Sp): Elderborn can use their innate telepathy to force images of their dark beliefs and alien thoughts into the minds of other mortals. The Elderborn may use this ability against any creature within it's telepathic range, those affected must make a Will Save (DC 22, 10 + 1/2 the Elderborn's HD + the Eldeborn's Int modifier) or be stunned for 2d6 rounds.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, an Elderborn must hit with a tentacle attack.

Deadly Grip (Ex): An Elderborn that begins it's action grappling a foe with it's tentacles may attempt to kill it's foe as full round action. If it succeeds on a grapple check, it may deal full damage with each of it's tentacles (4d6+12), should the target survive the damage, they must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the total damage dealt) or die, as the Elderborn begins extracting vital organs (typically, the brain).

Psionics (Sp): At will as spells cast by a 9th level sorcerer- Astral Projection, Charm Monster, Levitate, Plane Shift, Suggestion.

Amphibious (Ex): Although Elderborn are aquatic, they can survive indefinitely on land.

Atypical Treasure: Elderborn are unlikely to be entirely unprepared for the possibility of combat, and will equip themselves appropriately. In addition to their Double Standard treasure, it is suggested that they be given treasure as an NPC, with a level equal to their CR.

Mark Norfolk wrote:

Also, with all the talk about how fighters fall behind in the damage stakes compared to spellcasters they don't need another hinderance.

Whoever says that is mistaken. A fighter equipped with appropriate gear for his level should be dealing out as much or more damage as a spellcaster, who are going to face more and more magic resistance or high saving throw monsters as they get higher in levels.

It's not the damage casters deal that makes them outperform fighters, it's the many, many ways they can disable or outright kill an opponent (or several opponents) without actually dealing any damage to them.

Multicassing base classes can be painful most of the time and is suicidal for spellcasters. In fact anything past a 1-2level dip is really not worth the trouble.

However I like the idea of base class multiclassing much more than tacking on customer PrC's to suit a particular style.

So I offer a simple yet mostly untested option similar to a Gelsalt charcter but with fewer benefits.

Dual Classed Characters
In a nut shell you choose to dual class at level 2, and are fixed into it from that point on there are no ex dual classed characters. You can never take a 3rd base class nor a prestige class, no exceptions.

You take levels as a normal multi classed characters the split can never exceed 1:4 in other words at 20th your either 4/16 10/10 or somewhere between. You gain class abilities at the appropriate class level.

The Benefit ? For all class abilities you substitute your character level for your class level. i.e. a 4/16 or 10/10 will cast as a 20th level caster. It also applies to non casting abilities that have numerical effects determined by class level. e.g. Monk Ki pools is 1/2 monk level +WIS, for a DC that becomes 1/2 char level +WIS
Also for Hit Dice Saves and BAB they are determined by the dominant class, i.e. a Bard 12 /Fighter 8 uses Bard HD Saves and BAB. If you intend to be a 10/10 split then you may choose the better option at each levelup.
Feats skills are gained as per normal.

If there are any glaring Exploits then I propose simple caps. e.g. if letting muliclassed cast as full 20th level caster is too much then cap the max spell level at 5th or 6th preventing access to the more powerful spells.

The purpose is to make multi classing far more simple fun and less painful to do. A DC caster shouldn't be as powerful spell wise as a pure caster but at the same time his spells shouldn't suck so heavily that they never work on monsters.

As it stand this offers 45 Dual Class combinations which in turn offer 315 level split combinations of which a majority should be worth...

My first reaction was a fit of seizures as I flashed back to 1st edition, but this is actually pretty decently thought out, over all.

My one suggestion might be, instead of making it an entirely seperate multiclassing system, build it as a series of feats.

Something along the lines of...

Adaptable Monk
benefit: When calculating the effects of Monk class abilities, you may use your total character level in place of your Monk class level.
normal: Class abilities that scale with level use class level, not character level, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Obviously, replace Monk with whatever class you are writing the feat for, but you get the idea. This also gives you the ability to tweak each feat for balance, if a specific class has an ability that is scaling a little too well, you can exclude that ability from the feat.

This way you can still use the standard multiclassing rules and get the benefits of the dual classing idea you had.

I also kind of like that it does make this cost something, so it doesn't seem quite such a boost in power.

zwyt wrote:

2. I was thinking just earlier today, that if you think about it "Beholder" is really kind of a silly name for a creature like the Beholder. That cannot possibly be their racial name the same thing with the Displacer Beast.

Yeah, probably not, but you want to go ask them what they want to be called? I can pretty much promise the answer will be some variant on "Master."

Thank you so very much for that, I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Now excuse me while I get some paper towels and clean the coffee I was drinking off my monitor.

Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.

Armor Training was change to Defensive Training. Defensive training still eases the armor check penalty and max dex of worn armor, but instead of a +to the armor bonus, it gives a +dodge bonus to AC. This leaves a little more room for multiclassing, or for theme fighters that want to go armorless. I also feel like it just fits the idea of a master of armed combat more. The bonus Max Dex still makes armor a very, very good option, but the bonus to AC isn't entirely lost if a Fighter doesn't have access to armor for some reason.

Combat Training is new, Fighters needed some unique abilities, beyond Armor/Weapon training to really give them some flavor and interesting class abilities to look forward to other than more feats. At 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th Fighters get to choose one of several fairly powerful abilities.

Weapon Training is pretty much unchanged, but has been renamed Offensive Training. (After all, at least one group did not actually involve any weapons) I've also added a few extra groups for exotic fighters, Natural includes Bite, Claw, Gore, etc. for non standard race or shapechanging fighters, and Supernatural, which allows specialization in weapon like spells and spell like abilities, useful for cross class Fighter/Casters and for non standard races with spell like abilities.

Fighter (http://rapidshare.com/files/128289599/Fighter.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10.
Trained Saves: Fortitude.

Level BAB Special
1st +1 Bonus feat
2nd +2 Bonus feat
3rd +3 Defensive Training
4th +4 Bonus feat, Combat Training
5th +5 Offensive Training
6th +6 Bonus feat
7th +7 Defensive Training
8th +8 Bonus feat, Combat Training
9th +9 Offensive Training
10th +10 Bonus feat
11th +11 Defensive Training
12th +12 Bonus feat, Combat Training
13th +13 Offensive Training
14th +14 Bonus feat
15th +15 Defensive Training
16th +16 Bonus feat , Combat Training
17th +17 Offensive Training
18th +18 Bonus feat
19th +19 Armor mastery
20th +20 Bonus feat,Weapon mastery

Class Skills
The fighter’s class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Knowledge (warfare) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features
The following are class features of the fighter.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).
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 either fighter bonus feats or combat feats (see the Feats chapter).

I made the change to Defensive training to give Fighters a little more adaptability, and some ability to function if they are without equipment.

Defensive Training (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a fighter gains additional defense against attacks and added ease in the use of armor. The fighter gains an additional +1 dodge bonus to his armor class, reduces the armor check penalty of any armor worn by 1 (to a minimum of 0), and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by his armor by 1. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), a fighter gains even more protection, increasing these bonuses by +1 each time, for a total of +4 dodge to armor class at 15th level, with a –4 reduction to the armor check penalty and a +4 increase to the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed.

Here are the real meat of the changes, bonus feats and Armor/Weapon mastery are fine, but they lack much in terms of flavor for the class. I tried very, very hard to make sure these abilities would be useful for absolutely any type of Fighter, and that each of them could significantly affect how a fighter fought in some way.

Combat Training (Ex): Self discipline and training give the Fighter a surprising adaptability. Starting at 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter until 16th level (8th, 12th, 16th) a fighter can one of the following Combat Training options.

Focus and Awareness give fighters the option of making a low save trained, which helps cover one of their biggest weak points traditionally, low saves. Considering a multiclass fighter could easily cover the same saves with a level or two in other classes, I don't see this as a huge issue. Really these are intended as a possible perk for Fighters that really, really want to stick to Fighter.

Focus (Ex): The fighter adds Willpower to their list of Trained saves and adds Concentration to their list of Class skills. (Class skills with at least one Rank and Trained saves receive a +3 bonus. Multiple training bonuses from multiclassing do not stack.)

Awareness (Ex): The fighter adds Reflex to their list of Trained saves and adds Perception to their list of Class skills. (Class skills with at least one Rank and Trained saves receive a +3 bonus. Multiple training bonuses from multiclassing do not stack.)

With full BAB, high Str (probably), and Acumen, Fighters can be just slightly better at Combat Maneuvers than any other class, and very, very resistant to having Combat Maneuvers used against them. To me that really "feels" Fighterish and adds a sort of point of pride, "Fighters are the best at X", ability.

Acumen (Ex): The fighter adds a +3 competence bonus to their Combat Maneuvers Bonus and on Bluff checks made to Feint.

The 10 ft. move as a 5 ft. step is probably the more game changing part of this one, allowing cleave/great cleave fighters to put their feats to good use, and making full attacks much more likely round to round. The +10 base speed is just a nice perk that comes along for the ride.

Hustle (Ex): The fighter’s base speed increaseses by 10 ft. and they may make a 10 ft. move in place of a 5 ft. step.

This is another flavor ability, the idea of a grim warrior focused on combat to the exclusion of all else, Fatigue, Sickness, Fear, everything is veeerrry Fighter. The mechanical bonuses are nice as well, and the ability to continue acting while Dazed, Nauseated, or Stunned give fighters some unique options versus certain opponents.

Resilience (Ex): The fighter ignores the effects of Fatigued, Shaken, and Sickened. This ability does not remove these conditions, it merely allows the fighter to ignore the penalties they normally impart. In addition, while Dazed, Nauseated, or Stunned the Fighter may make a single Standard action each round (this action replaces the single move action a nauseated character would normally make.)

Probably one of the mechanically strongest abilities, Celerity is all about giving fighters some presence. A fighter with Celerity is _always_ dangerous, and ready to kill at the drop of a hat, and foes facing any fighter have to keep that possibility in mind. Celerity is more than a little inspired by old Samurai movies like Zatoichi.

Celerity (Ex): The fighter may take a full round action during surprise rounds. In addition, the fighter is always considered armed for the purposes of determining threatened area, and may draw a weapon as part of an attack of opportunity.

Sort of the flipside of Celerity, Forethought allows a fighter to act with full effect at exactly they moment they choose, and was added for a lot of the same reasons and from the same inspirations.

Forethought (Ex): The Fighter is no longer limited to readying standard, move equivalent, and free actions. They may now ready a full round action as well. They may take a five foot step immediately, or as part of the full round action they ready, but no other action is possible on a turn in which they ready a full round action.

Offensive Training (Ex): Starting at 5th level, a fighter can select one group of weapons, as noted below. Whenever he attacks with a weapon from this group, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls.
Every four levels thereafter (9th, 13th, and 17th), a fighter becomes further trained in another group of weapons. He gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls when using a weapon from this group. In addition, the bonuses granted by previous weapon groups increase by +1 each. For example, when a fighter reaches 9th level, he receives a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with one weapon group and a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls with the weapon group selected at 5th level. Bonuses granted from overlapping groups do not stack. Take the highest bonus granted for a weapon if it resides in two or more groups.
Weapon groups are defined as follows (GMs may add other weapons to these groups, or add entirely new groups):
Axes: battleaxe, dwarven waraxe, greataxe, handaxe, heavy pick, light pick, orc double axe, and throwing axe.
Blades, Heavy: bastard sword, falchion, greatsword, longsword, scimitar, scythe, and two-bladed sword.
Blades, Light: dagger, kama, kukri, rapier, sickle, and short sword.
Bows: composite longbow, composite shortbow, longbow, and shortbow.
Close: gauntlet, heavy shield, light shield, punching dagger, sap, spiked armor, spiked gauntlet, spiked shield, and unarmed strike.
Crossbows: hand crossbow, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, heavy repeating crossbow, and light repeating crossbow.
Double: dire flail, dwarven urgosh, gnome hooked hammer, orc double axe, and two-bladed sword.
Flails: dire flail, flail, heavy flail, morningstar, nunchaku, spiked chain, and whip.
Hammers: club, light hammer, light mace, greatclub, heavy mace, and warhammer.
Monk: kama, nunchaku, sai, shuriken, siangham, and unarmed strike.
Natural: Bite, Claw, Talon, Gore, Slap, Slam, Sting, and Tentacle.
Pole Arms: glaive, guisarme, halberd, ranseur, and quarterstaff.
Spears: javelin, lance, longspear, shortspear, spear, and trident.
Supernatural: All weaponlike spells and spell-like abilities.
Thrown: bolas, club, dart, dagger, handaxe, javelin, light hammer, net, shortspear, shuriken, sling, spear, and trident.
Armor Mastery (Ex): At 19th level, a fighter gains DR 5/— whenever he is wearing armor or using a shield and armor counts as one category lighter for determining movement speed. If a fighter also has the Hustle combat training, movement speed is never reduced by armor.
Weapon Mastery (Ex): At 20th level, a fighter chooses one weapon, such as the longsword, greataxe, or longbow. Any attacks made with that weapon automatically confirm all critical threats and have their damage multiplier increased by 1 (a ×2 becomes a ×3, for example). In addition, he cannot be disarmed while wielding a weapon of this type.

Here’s the Cleric (http://rapidshare.com/files/128287832/Cleric.pdf.html)
No major changes to clerics, just the needed stuff to skills/trained saves to make it all work with the new system.

Here’s the Druid (http://rapidshare.com/files/128288439/Druid.pdf.html)
Again, no major changes outside of skills/trained saves. Just including these for completeness.

Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.

The only huge departure from the Pathfinder standard Bard is a change to deadly performance. Most other changes are just tweaks of the wording.

I did standardize the format of Bardic Performances though, makes them much easier to quickly read and evaluate if you need to look something up in combat.
All the performances should be basically...
A bard with X can do X as a bardic performance. Target requirements, range, etc.
If the performance allows a save, then the DC formula will be listed, followed by effects if saves are successful, then effects if saves fail.
Bardic performances duration/limits.
For buff type performances the last section is an explanation of what benefits it offers.

Obviously, some performances may or may not have one of the above sections, but overall they should be much easier to read.

Bard (http://rapidshare.com/files/128257193/Bard.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any nonlawful.
Hit Die: d8.
Trained Saves: Reflex and Willpower.

Level/BAB/Special Abilities
1st +0 Bardic knowledge, bardic performance, countersong, distraction, fascinate, inspire courage
2nd +1 Well-versed
3rd +2 Inspire competence
4th +3
5th +3 Lore master 1/day
6th +4 Suggestion
7th +5
8th +6 Dirge of doom, discordant performance
9th +6 Inspire greatness
10th +7
11th +8 Lore master 2/day
12th +9 Song of freedom, soothing performance
13th +9
14th +10 Frightening tune, paralyzing show
15th +11 Inspire heroics
16th +12
17th +12 Lore master 3/day
18th +13 Mass suggestion
19th +14 Jack of all trades
20th +15 Deadly performance

Class Skills
The bard’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Int modifier

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A bard is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, short sword, shortbow, and whip. Bards are also proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).
A bard can cast bard spells while wearing light armor and using a shield without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster though, a bard wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass bard still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Spells: A bard casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the bard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. Every bard spell has a verbal component (singing, reciting, or music). To learn or cast a spell, a bard must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a bard’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the bard’s Charisma modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a bard can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given below. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score.

Bard Spells Per Day
LVL 1 2 3 4 5 6
1st 1 — — — — —
2nd 2 — — — — —
3rd 3 — — — — —
4th 3 1 — — — —
5th 4 2 — — — —
6th 4 3 — — — —
7th 4 3 1 — — —
8th 4 4 2 — — —
9th 5 4 3 — — —
10th 5 4 3 1 — —
11th 5 4 4 2 — —
12th 5 5 4 3 — —
13th 5 5 4 3 1 —
14th 5 5 4 4 2 —
15th 5 5 5 4 3 —
16th 5 5 5 4 3 1
17th 5 5 5 4 4 2
18th 5 5 5 5 4 3
19th 5 5 5 5 5 4
20th 5 5 5 5 5 5

The bard’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A bard begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of the bard’s choice. At each new bard level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated below. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a bard knows is not affected by his Charisma score. The numbers given below are fixed.) These new spells can be common spells chosen from the bard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the bard has gained some understanding of through study.

I've always liked the openess of interpretation of the line about learning unusual spells. The official line is that it just allows learning new bard spells from non-core books, but the idea of bards and sorcs having access to other classes spell list is interesting as long as you keep it under control. I've kept the same vagueness here, so that a DM can run the official line if they wish, and if they are more open to allowing Bards options, they can go that route.

Bard Spells Known

LVL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1st 4 2 — — — — —
2nd 5 3 — — — — —
3rd 6 4 — — — — —
4th 6 4 2 — — — —
5th 6 4 3 — — — —
6th 6 4 4 — — — —
7th 6 5 4 2 — — —
8th 6 5 4 3 — — —
9th 6 5 4 4 — — —
10th 6 5 5 4 2 — —
11th 6 6 5 4 3 — —
12th 6 6 5 4 4 — —
13th 6 6 5 5 4 2 —
14th 6 6 6 5 4 3 —
15th 6 6 6 5 4 4 —
16th 6 6 6 5 5 4 2
17th 6 6 6 6 5 4 3
18th 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
19th 6 6 6 6 5 5 4
20th 6 6 6 6 6 5 5

Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third bard level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a bard can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the bard “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level bard spell the bard can cast. A bard may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
As noted above, a bard need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.
Bardic Knowledge: At 1st level, a bard selects one Knowledge skill. He gains 1 bonus skill rank to place in that Knowledge skill and an additional skill rank every time he gains a level. In addition, a bard adds 1/2 his level (minimum 1) to all Knowledge skill checks and may make such checks untrained.
Bardic Performance: Once per day per bard level, a bard can use his Perform skill to produce magical effects on those around him (usually including himself, if desired). Each ability requires both a minimum bard level and a minimum number of ranks in the Perform skill. If a bard does not have the required number of ranks in at least one Perform skill, he does not gain the bardic performance ability until he acquires the needed ranks. Bardic performances require no specific instrument or type of Performance.

The specific instrument requirements always annoyed me, hard to track, and if you did enforce them, then in the end they just made every bard choose from a few specific perform types.

Starting a bardic performance effect is a standard action. Spell-like (Sp) bardic performance abilities require concentration; the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain such abilities. Even while using a bardic performance ability that doesn’t require concentration, a bard cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), or activate magic items by magic word (such as wands).

Explicitly stated which bardic performances require concentration to avoid confusion.

Countersong (Su): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or song to counter magical effects that depend on sound. Each round of the countersong, he makes a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself ) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the countersong, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Countersong does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. The bard may keep up the countersong for 10 rounds.

Distraction (Su): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to counter magical effects that depend on sight. Each round of the distraction, he makes a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by an illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the distraction is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it sees the distraction, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Distraction does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. The bard may keep up the distraction for 10 rounds.
Fascinate (Sp): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to cause one creature to become fascinated with him. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can fascinate one additional creature. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use fascinate on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song, taking no other actions, for as long as the bard continues to play. While fascinated, a target takes a –4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Courage (Su): A bard with 1 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to inspire courage in his allies (including himself ), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The effect lasts for as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 8th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th, and +4 at 20th). Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Competence (Su): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to help an ally succeed at a task. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance. Certain uses of this ability are infeasible, such as Sneak attempts. A bard can’t inspire competence in himself. Inspire competence is a mind-affecting ability.
Suggestion (Sp): A bard of 6th level or higher with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make a suggestion (as the spell) to a creature that he has already fascinated (see above). Using this ability does not break the bard’s concentration on the fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect. Making a suggestion doesn’t count against a bard’s daily limit on bardic performances. A Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 bard’s level + bard’s Cha modifier) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single creature (but see mass suggestion, below). Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind affecting, language-dependent ability.
Dirge of Doom (Su): A bard with 8 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to foster a sense of growing dread in his enemies, causing them to take a number of penalties. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. Affected enemies are shaken and take a –2 penalty on ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks so long as the bard continues performing and for 3 rounds thereafter. At 14th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this penalty increases by 1 (-3 at 14th, and -4 at 20th).
Discordant Performance (Su):[/i] A bard with 8 or more ranks in a Perform skill can can use his performance to cause his enemies to become confused. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use discordant performance on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature becomes confused so long as the bard continues performing. Each round at the end of its turn, each subject of a discordant performance may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect, if the save is successful, the bard cannot use discordant performance on that creature again for 24 hours
Inspire Greatness (Su): A bard with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to inspire greatness in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, granting her extra fighting capability. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 9th, he can inspire one additional ally. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The effect lasts for as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally gains 2 bonus Hit Dice (d10s), the commensurate number of temporary hit points (apply the target’s Constitution modifier, if any, to these bonus Hit Dice), a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves. The bonus Hit Dice count as regular Hit Dice for determining the effect of spells that are Hit Dice dependant. Inspire greatness is a mind-affecting ability.
Song of Freedom (Sp): A bard with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to create an effect equivalent to the break enchantment spell, with a caster level equal to the bard’s class level. Using this ability requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration and music, and it functions on a single target within 30 feet. A bard can’t use song of freedom on himself.
Soothing Performance (Sp): A bard with 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to create an effect equivalent to the mass cure light wounds spell, with a caster level equal to the bard’s class level. In addition, this performance removes the fatigued, sickened, and shakened condition from all those affected. Using this ability requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration and performance, and it functions on all targets within 30 feet.
Frightening Tune (Sp): A bard with 14 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to cause fear in his enemies. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use frightening tune on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature becomes frightened for 1d4 rounds plus the bard’s Charisma modifier.
Paralyzing Show (Sp): A bard with 14 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to paralyze his enemies. To be affected, an enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature’s Will save against the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot use paralyzing show on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature becomes paralyzed so long as the bard continues performing. Each round at the end of its turn, each subject of a paralyzing show may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect, if the save is successful, the bard cannot use paralyzing show on that creature again for 24 hours.
Inspire Heroics (Su): A bard with 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to inspire tremendous heroism in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet. For every three bard levels the character attains beyond 15th, he can inspire one additional ally. To be affected, an ally must be able to percieve the bard’s performance. The effect lasts for as long as the ally can percieve the bard‘s performance and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws and a +4 dodge bonus to AC. Inspire heroics is a mind-affecting ability.
Mass Suggestion (Sp): This ability functions like suggestion, above, except that a bard of 18th level or higher with 18 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make the suggestion simultaneously to any number of creatures that he has already fascinated (see above). Mass suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language dependent ability.
Deadly Performance (Su): A bard with 20 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his performance to cause one enemy to die from joy or sorrow. To be affected, the enemy must be able to perceive the bard’s performance and be within 30 feet. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for the affected enemy’s Will save against the effect. If the enemy’s saving throw succeeds, the enemy is stunned for 1d4 rounds and the bard cannot use deadly performance on that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the deadly performance succeeds.
Thereafter, the bard may attempt to slay the victim at any time. To make such an attempt, the bard merely speaks a single word or sings a single note in the subject’s presence (a free action), and unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the bard’s level + the bard’s Cha modifier), it dies. If the saving throw is successful, the target is no longer in danger from that particular deadly performance, but it may still be affected by another one at a later time.

Deadly performance definitely needed some work. The DC for the save was far, far too high, but I do like the perform as a save mechanic for several other bard abilities and hated to break it. For Fascinate and the like the abnormally high saves from perform are alright, they just add a quirk to the class and support their role as semi-controllers/buffers specializing in mind affecting abilities. For Deadly Performance though it was far too powerful.

To balance things out a bit I've reworked Deadly performance to function in the same manner as Quivering Palm, an initial attack/performance that is very likely to succeed, followed by a standard save when the Bard/Monk chooses to activate the actual save vs. death magic ( *cough* Sorry, old school leaking through there a bit)

Cantrips (Sp): A bard knows a number of cantrips. He can cast these spells at will as a spell-like ability. The number of cantrips a bard knows is noted on the table above under 0 level spells known. Cantrips are treated like any other spell cast by the bard in terms of duration and other variables based on level.

Well-Versed (Ex): At 2nd level, the bard becomes resistant to the bardic performance of others. The bard gains a +4 bonus on saving throws made against bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects.
Lore Master (Ex): At 5th level, the bard becomes a master of lore and can take 10 on any Knowledge skill check that he has ranks in. A bard can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the bard can take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a standard action. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.
Jack of All Trades (Ex): At 19th level, the bard can use any skill, even if the skill requires him to be trained. In addition, all skills are now considered class skills. If the bard has 5 or more ranks in a skill, he can take 10 on the skill, even if it is not normally allowed.

Major changes from Pathfinder standard classes are marked with a dark background in the pdf and an explanation from the Man Behind the Curtain here.

Ok, so Barbarian changes...
Dropped rage points, it was a good idea, and ki points work very well for Monk, but it's not so great for Barbarian, the large number of Rage points at high level, and the fact that you'll be spending varying amounts of Rage every round, sometimes two or three times a round, depending on what abilities you use, make it a nightmare to keep track of properly. I've also worn a hole right through a character sheet in just two weeks because of all the erasing, writing, erasing, writing, etc.

Rage powers are a wonderful idea, I absolutely love this and the Rogue tricks. Dropped the point costs, removed some of the abilities that seemed a little off for Barbarian. (Elemental attacks? You're so mad you're on fire? While awesome, that it still a little odd.) To keep the Rage powers from becoming too crazy, they're mostly limited to being used one at a time.

D10 hd, and yeah, I definitely know that one is going to attract some hatred, to make up for it, 2 bonus HP per level of barbarian. This keeps the HD in line with the standard set by other classes, and actually considerably ups the total HP of most barbarians. It also gives Barbarians more of a HP boost in games where average HP per level is used. The intent here was to standardize, and to give barbs a big enough bump in survival to make up for the loss of heavy armor and -2 AC from raging. (As I don't let Mithril plate to count as Medium armor for the purposes of class abilities, the loss of Heavy armor really is quite significant in my game.)

Intimidating Presence, Frightful Presence, added a few new abilities that tie into the barbarians skills, give them a nice boost at some otherwise dead levels, and help give the class something really unique to look forward to at later levels.

Barbarian (http://rapidshare.com/files/128254058/Barbarian.pdf.html)
Alignment: Any nonlawful.
Hit Die: d10.
Trained Saves: Fortitude.

Level/BAB/Special Abilities
1st/+1/Fast movement, Rage
2nd/+2/Uncanny dodge
3rd/+3/Rage power
4th/+4/Rugged
5th/+5/Improved uncanny dodge
6th/+6/Rage power
7th/+7/Damage reduction 1/—
8th/+8/Rage power
9th/+9/Intimidating Presence
10th/+10/Rage power, Damage reduction 2/—
11th/+11/Greater rage
12th/+12/Rage power
13th/+13/Damage reduction 3/—
14th/+14/Rage power
15th/+15/Frightening Presence
16th/+16/Rage power, Damage reduction 4/—
17th/+17/Tireless rage
18th/+18/Rage power
19th/+19/Damage reduction 5/—
20th/+20/Mighty rage

Class Skills
The barbarian’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Profession (Wis), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the barbarian.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A barbarian is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Fast Movement (Ex): A barbarian’s land speed is faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor, and not carrying a heavy load. Apply this bonus before modifying the barbarian’s speed because of any load carried or armor worn.

Changed Rage back to a per day ability, and made Greater rage and Mighty Rage always on abilities. Tracking rage points was too time consuming, and with several changes per round if you were using abilities, would eat a hole through a character sheet from all the erasing.

Rage (Ex): A barbarian can call upon inner reserves of strength and ferocity, granting her additional combat prowess. Once per day, a barbarian can fly into a rage, temporarily gaining a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but a -2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when her Constitution score drops back to normal. While raging, a barbarian cannot use the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration such as spell casting. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A barbarian may prematurely end her rage. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (-2 penalty to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for one minute per round they spent raging (unless she is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies).

I liked the idea of rage powers, but with rage points gone I had to make some changes to keep it workable. With a few exceptions the Rage Powers all last a full round, and only one may be used at a time. Any time the barbarian is raging though, they may freely use any of the powers they have selected.

To help keep this in line, and to make Rage a more precious resource, I've moved the additional rages per day here as a selectable Rage power. This gives players some freedom to fit their character to the campaign, if their DM runs very encounter heavy games that are stretching their ability to keep up, they can take additional rages per day, if not they can enhance the rage they do have.

Rage Powers: As a barbarian gains experience, she learns to harness her rage in new ways. Starting at 3rd level, a barbarian gains one rage power. She gains an additional rage power at 6th level and every two levels after that, until 18th level (8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th level). With the exception of Extra Raging and Swift, a barbarian cannot select an individual power more than once. Unless otherwise noted, these abilities are swift actions and only one may be used per round.

Animal Fury (Ex): The barbarian may make a bite attack at her highest attack bonus. If the bite hits, it deals 1d6 points of damage (assuming the barbarian is Medium; 1d4 points of damage if Small) plus the barbarian’s Strength modifier. A barbarian can use this power while grappled or pinned. If the bite attack hits, any grapple checks made against the target this round are at a +2 bonus.
Extra Rage (Ex): The Barbarian may rage twice more per day. This ability may be taken more than once, adding two additional uses of rage per day each time.
Indomitable Will (Ex): For one round, the barbarian gains a +4 bonus on Will saves to resist enchantment spells. This bonus stacks with all other modifiers, including the morale bonus on Will saves she also receives during her rage.
Increased Damage Reduction (Ex): For one round, the barbarian gains damage reduction 1/—. This damage reduction stacks with that granted by the barbarian class feature. This ability may be taken more than once, improving the damage reduction by 1/— each time it is taken.
Knockback (Ex): For one round, anyone hit by the barbarian’s melee attacks must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the barbarians level + her Str modifier) or be pushed back 5 feet, if possible.

Renewed Vigor in standard Pathfinder was nearly useless. I'm sorry, but what was essentially a cure light wounds as a standard action is always, always going to be a terrible move for a barbarian if they have to waste a round of rage to use it.

Renewed Vigor (Su): As a swift action, the barbarian heals 1 points of damage per barbarian level, and gains fast healing 1 for a number of rounds equal to her Con modifier.

Roused Anger (Ex): The barbarian may enter rage even if fatigued, after her rage ends the barbarian becomes exhausted for one minute per round they spent raging.
Sharpened Senses (Ex): For one round, the barbarian’s senses sharpen and she gain Low Light Vision, Scent, and a +2 on all Perception checks. If the barbarian already has Low Light Vision, this ability grants Darkvision instead.
Swift (Ex): While raging, the barbarian gains a +10 ft. of movement speed. This ability may be taken more than once, adding an additional +10 ft. of movement speed each time.
Unexpected Strike (Ex): As part of a full attack action, the barbarian may make one additional attack at her highest attack bonus. This additional attack does not stack with haste or other similar effects.
Whirling Frenzy (Ex): For one round, the barbarian gains a +3 morale bonus to all reflex saves, and anyone attacking her is considered ineffective, taking a -4 to their attack roll.

Uncanny dodge and Imp. Uncanny Dodge saw some changes to tie it in with the new Combat mechanics.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, a barbarian can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so and is never considered flat footed. If a barbarian already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge

(see below) instead.

Rugged combined with d10 base HD gives barbarians slightly more HP than before (especially in average hp/level games) and keeps the flavor, while standardizing the HD between classes.

Rugged (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a barbarian gains a bonus of 2 hp per level of barbarian.

Uncanny dodge and Imp. Uncanny Dodge saw some changes to tie it in with the new Combat mechanics.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level and higher, a barbarian has greatly heightened senses and focus, and is never considered distracted.

Damage Reduction (Ex): At 7th level, a barbarian gains damage reduction. Subtract 1 from the damage the barbarian takes each time he is dealt damage from a weapon or a natural attack. At 10th level, and every three barbarian levels thereafter (13th, 16th, and 19th level), this damage reduction rises by 1 point. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0.

I moved Intimidating Presence here as an always on ability, and added Frightful Presence later, to give barbarians some unique higher level flavor abilities that tied into their skills.

Intimidating Presence (Ex): At 9th level, while raging, a barbarian can unsettle their foes in combat. Any time they score a critical hit or deal lethal damage to a foe they may make an Intimidate check against one adjacent foe as a free action. If the barbarian successfully demoralizes her opponent, the foe is shaken for 2d6 rounds.

As mentioned earlier, with the loss of rage points Greater rage became an always on ability. Honestly, I don't think this was that broken to begin with, and it means less bookkeeping.

Greater Rage (Ex): At 11th level, when a barbarian enters rage, the bonus to her Strength and Constitution increases to +6 and the morale bonus on her Will saves increases to +3.

Frightful Presence is the sort of end game flavor ability that I want to have to keep people interested in a class. It's powerful, without being game breaking, and gives them an ability that can't easily be replicated by any other class.

Frightful Presence (Ex): At 15th level, any foe witnessing a barbarian raging may become frightened. Any time the barbarian enters a rage or attacks, opponents within 30 ft. must make a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 the barbarians level + her Cha modifier). Those that fail are frightened for 5d6 rounds. An opponent that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to the barbarian’s frightful presence for 24 hours.

Tireless Rage (Ex): Starting at 17th level, a barbarian no longer becomes fatigued at the end of her rage.

As mentioned earlier, with the loss of rage points Mighty rage became an always on ability.

Mighty Rage (Ex): At 20th level, when a barbarian enters rage, the bonus to her Strength and Constitution increases to +8. The penalty to AC remains at -2.

Well.. I really, really am having a hard time picking one thing, but if I had to, I guess I would say the biggest mechanical problem with high level play is the rate at which offensive abilities grow in comparison to defensive. Attack bonuses vs. AC, damage vs. hp, and worst of all Spell DCs vs. Saving throws. This isn't just limited to Combat either. Skills vs. Check DCs for instance.

The constant creep upwards in offensive ability, and the addition of more and more "save or die"/"save or be disabled" spells and abilities make more and more of the game a matter of either certain victory or utter defeat, with next to no middle ground in which it's possible for a conflict (combat or otherwise) to actually be exciting.

Here's the Combat section, along with bits of commentary on why I made the changes. A PDF is available here. (http://rapidshare.com/files/128242499/Combat.pdf.html)

Combat
The following rules replace some of the standard combat rules to speed up play or improve game balance.

Combat Maneuvers
Combat Maneuvers replace a normal attack in an attack action or full attack. Bull Rush and Overrun may only be made as part of a charge or move, but otherwise work as indicated. Using more than one combat maneuver in a full attack action applies a cumulative -5 penalty to each maneuver. Your combat maneuver bonus is equal to your Base Attack Bonus plus either your Strength or Dexterity modifier, whichever is higher. The base DC of a Combat Maneuver is 10 + the target’s Combat Maneuver Bonus. Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Grapple, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, and Improved Trip add a +3 bonus to the appropriate combat maneuver checks.

Moving Combat Maneuvers from Standard actions to attack actions allows them to be used as part of a full attack. As Standard actions they become less and less useful at later levels, the CMB of opponents scales much better than AC, and giving up multiple damaging attacks for a single disarm/grapple was just bad. Added the -5 penalty to prevent too much abuse from monks and flurry. Upped the Improved feats to a +3 bonus, +2 was just too weak.

Attacks Of Opportunity

Sometimes a combatant in a melee lets her guard down. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defense to attack her for free. These free attacks are called attacks of opportunity.
Two kinds of actions provoke attacks of opportunity, moving out of a threatened square and performing a distracting action within a threatened square.
Moving: Moving out of or through, but not into, an opponents threatened area usually provokes an attack of opportunity from any opponent(s) threatening you. However, there are several methods of avoiding such an attack. By using the acrobatics skill or by taking a single 5 ft. step, it is possible to move without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Distracting Actions: Some actions, when performed in a threatened square, provoke attacks of opportunity as you divert your attention from the battle. By acting defensively it is possible to perform a single standard, move, or move-equivalent action without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Acting Defensively
As a full round action, you may perform a distracting action without provoking attacks of opportunity. Make a Concentration check (DC 10 + the Combat Maneuver Bonus of any opponent(s) threatening you), if the check is successful, you may perform any one standard or move equivalent action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the Concentration check fails, the related action also automatically fails, and you provoke attacks of opportunity as if you had performed the action normally.

Acting defensively was always an option, just one that was rarely used and one that didn't have an explicit list of actions that it would work for. Emphasizing it over casting defensively helps to bring some parity to casters and non-casters. I decided to use the opponents CMB in place of melee attack bonus to avoid the DC scaling from magical equipment, and to give CMB a slightly expanded role, which helps Monks slightly. Acrobatics may see a similar change eventually.

Combat Modifiers

The following conditions affect all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks.
While attacking a target that is distracted, unable to react, vulnerable or helpless the attacker may add precision based damage (such as sneak attack) to their attack, assuming their opponent has discernible vulnerabilities, and in the case of ranged attacks, is within the first range increment. An attacker that is considered ineffective may not make attacks of opportunity, and never adds precision based damage (such as sneak attack) to their damage.

Grouping up the various combat modifiers and standardizing a bit (+2/+4 or -2/-4) helps to speed up combat a lot. Moving all the bonuses/penalties to the attack roll and changing flat footed/touch to a flat bonus saves huge amounts of time when you don't have the Dex/Armor/Shield bonuses listed out in front of you, just total AC. The fewer places you're adding/subtracting bonuses the fewer chances there are for mistakes too.

Grouping up these modifiers also helps to give DMs an easy way to adjudicate conditions that aren't explicitly listed without it feeling arbitrary.

All through these I've tried to avoid specifically mentioning another class by name, hence the precision based damage lines. Avoiding specific ties to a class or class ability helps keep the whole system working if someone wants to bring in alternate base classes, or new abilities from prestige classes.

Defender is...

Afraid (+2): Cowering, frightened, panicked, or shaken.
Distracted (+2): Entangled, flanked, grappled, sickened.
Flat Footed (+4): Blind, surprised, stunned, unaware.
Vulnerable (+4): Climbing, cowering, nauseated, running, swimming, squeezing, touch attacks.
Helpless (Special): Bound, held, paralyzed, pinned, unconscious. helpless characters are effectively vulnerable and unable to react, for a total of +8 to any attacks made against them.

Attacker is...
Hampered (-2):[/b] Entangled, frightened, opponent fighting defensively, partial cover, shaken,.
Ineffective (-4):[/b] Blind, fighting defensively, full cover, improvised weapon, non-proficient, opponent using the total defense action, prone.

For the most part these work out to the same bonus to hit/penalty to hit as you get in standard 3.5, with a few notable exceptions.

Nausea is worse now, but it comes up rarely enough that making it rougher isn't too bad. Troglodytes might deserve a slightly higher CR because of it, that's about all.

Flat footed and Touch attacks are both flat bonuses/penalties now, instead of requiring you to recalculate AC based on loss of armor/Dex.
Most other conditions that caused a loss of Dex (Running, Stunned, etc.) fall under either Flat Footed or Vulnerable.

One side effect of this is that stacking of conditions is particularly easy.
Each condition (Afraid, Distracted, Flat Footed, and Vulnerable) stacks with each of the others, and a character either is or is not being affected by each one. For example, a character either is or is not Vulnerable, whether it's from cowering, or squeezing, or both, and attacks against that character get a +4, now matter what combination of factors make the character vulnerable.
Attacks against a character that is Distracted by being Sickened, and is Flat Footed because of Surprise, get a +6 to the attack roll (+4 for flat footed, +2 for distracted).

This is a pretty big change to combat modifiers, but since it just sits on top of the standard conditions, and replaces their effects while keeping the old keywords, just about all published material should work with only very minor changes.

Afraid

A character that is afraid takes a -2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Attacks made against opponents that are afraid get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
Shaken: Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked. A character that is shaken is considered hampered, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
Frightened: A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A character that is frightened is considered hampered, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls. A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Panicked: A panicked creature must drop anything it holds and flee at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can’t take any other actions. Panicked is a more severe state of fear than frightened. If cornered, a panicked creature cowers.
Cowering: The character is frozen in fear and can take no actions. Cowering characters are considered vulnerable as well as afraid.

Grouping up the fear effects saves some space, for starters, since they all have exactly the same bonuses/penalties (with the exception of Cowering, which originally added loss of dex, and now adds vulnerable.)

It also helps make the Paladin's immunity to fear feel considerably more powerful. It prevents exactly the same effects it always did, it's just more obvious this way that those effects are about 1/4 to 1/5th of the detrimental combat modifiers.

Distracted

Distracted characters are unable to defend themselves properly. Attacks made against distracted opponents get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
Entangled: The character is ensnared. Being entangled impedes movement, but does not entirely prevent it unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a -2 penalty to Dexterity checks. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a Concentration check (DC 15 + the spell’s level) or lose the spell. An entangled character is also considered hampered, taking a -2 on attack rolls.
Grappled: Engaged in wrestling or some other form of hand-to-hand struggle with one or more attackers. A grappling character can undertake only a limited number of actions.
Flanked: An opponent that is being threatened by one or more creatures unfriendly to it is flanked.
Sickened: The character takes a -2 penalty on all weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.

Probably the biggest change here is Flanked. I'm intentionally avoiding using references to a battle mat and miniatures, flanking was very arbitrary unless you were using a mat, the DM essentially just had to either decide you were or were not flanking on a whim, by changing it to a matter of threatened area, it's much easier to adjudicate. Also, I like the combat options this opens up, for instance, a sword and board fighter in front of a character with a reach weapon providing flanking bonuses to one another.

Flat Footed

Flat footed characters are unable to react to incoming attacks. Attacks made against flat footed opponents get a +4 bonus to the attack roll.
Blind: The character cannot see, moves at half speed, and takes a -4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character. A blind character is also considered ineffective, taking a -4 on attack rolls.
Surprised: A character who has not yet acted during a combat is surprised, not yet reacting normally to the situation.
Stunned: A stunned creature drops everything held and can’t take actions.
Unaware: The character is unaware of attackers, either because they are invisible or because they are hidden.

No huge surprises here, the expansion of flat footed to include other effects that keep you from reacting to attacks does make Uncanny dodge more interesting. Also, just to be clear, while Uncanny dodge in this system would make you immune to the penalties from flat footed, you would still suffer the effects of say, being blind, your opponents just wouldn't get the +4 to hit you.

Vulnerable

Vulnerable characters are unable to respond properly to incoming attacks. Attacks made against vulnerable opponents get a +4 bonus to the attack roll.
Climbing: A character without a base climb speed is considered vulnerable while swimming.
Cowering: The character is frozen in fear and can take no actions. Cowering characters are considered afraid as well as vulnerable.
Nauseated: Experiencing stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn.
Running: A character using the run action is unable to defend itself properly, and is considered vulnerable.
Swimming: A character without a base swim speed is considered vulnerable while swimming.
Squeezing: A character may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space it normall takes up. A character can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as it’s normal space. Movement while squeezing counts for twice the distance covered.
Touch attacks: Touch attacks require only that the attacker make contact with their opponent. Characters with the Arcane Accuracy class ability receive additional bonuses when making touch attacks for spells and spell-like abilities.

The big one here is Touch attacks. As I said, I'm ditching the modifiers that either change your stats, or prevent you from using them, and replacing them with flat bonuses. This helps even out the effect of some conditions on certain very large or very fast creature types, and it keeps the odds of hitting someone on things like touch attacks semi-sane.

Helpless

A helpless opponent is someone who is bound, sleeping, paralyzed, unconscious, or otherwise at your mercy. helpless defenders are vulnerable and flat footed, so attacks made against them have a +8 bonus to the attack roll. It is also possible to coup de grace helpless defenders. The effects of helpless do not stack with the effects of vulnerable and flat footed.
Bound: Held immobile by restraints. Bound characters may attempt to use Escape Artist to free themselves, but may take no other physical action.
Held: Held immobile by magic. Held characters may only take purely mental actions.
Paralyzed: A paralyzed character is frozen in place and unable to move or act. A paralyzed character automaticall fails any check involving Strength or Dexterity, but can take purely mental actions.
Pinned: Held immobile in a grapple. Pinned characters may attempt to escape the grapple, but may take no other physical action.
Unconscious: Knocked out and helpless.

The biggest change here is probably pinned. Too often Grappling seems like it's either too good of an option (for players that want to disable a specific bad guy for long periods of time) or a really bad one (for NPC's, disabling one PC but lowering your AC is probably a quick death sentence).

The changes to CMB already fix parts of the first problem, and making pinned more deadly helps a lot with the second. (instead of grappling being a way to take yourself and a particular target out of a fight, it becomes a way of putting an opponent in a situation in which it is possible to kill them.)
One additional change I forgot to include here, grappling is an attack action, as with all the other combat maneuvers, but Pinning is a full round action more akin to Coup de Grace.

Coup de Grace

As a full-round action, you can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace to a helpless opponent. You can also use a bow or crossbow, provided you are adjacent to the target.
You automatically hit and score a critical hit. You may add any precision based damage (such as sneak attack) this attack. If the defender survives the damage, he must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or die.
Delivering a coup de grace provokes attacks of opportunity from threatening opponents.
You can’t deliver a coup de grace against a creature that is immune to critical hits. You can deliver a coup de grace against a creature with total concealment, but doing this requires one round to “find” the creature, and one to deliver the coup de grace.

Hampered
A character that is hampered cannot fight freely, taking a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
Entangled: The character is ensnared. Being entangled impedes movement, but does not entirely prevent it unless the bonds are anchored to an immobile object or tethered by an opposing force. An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a -2 penalty to Dexterity checks. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a Concentration check (DC 15 + the spell’s level) or lose the spell. An entangled character is also considered distracted, attacks against that character get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
Frightened: A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A character that is frightened is also considered afraid, and takes a -2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Attacks made against opponents that are afraid get a +2 bonus to the attack roll. A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Opponent Fighting Defensively: A character attacking an opponent that is Fighting Defensively is considered hampered.
Partial Cover: A character attacking an opponent with partial cover is considered hampered.
Shaken: Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked. A character that is shaken is also considered afraid, and takes a -2 penalty on saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Attacks made against opponents that are afraid get a +2 bonus to the attack roll.

Ineffective
A character that is ineffective cannot fight effectively, taking a -4 penalty to attack rolls. A character that is considered ineffective may not make attacks of opportunity, and never adds precision based damage (such as sneak attack) to their damage.
Blind: The character cannot see, moves at half speed, and takes a -4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character.
Fighting Defensively: A character can choose to fight defensively when making an attack or full attack. If they do so, they are considered ineffectual until the end of the round, taking a -4 penalty on all attacks. In exchange, apponents making melee and ranged attacks against them are considered Hampered, taking a -2 on all attacks made against you.
Full Cover: A character attacking an opponent with full cover is considered ineffective.
Improvised Weapon: A character who uses an improvised weapon is ineffective, taking a -4 penalty to their attack rolls.
Non-Proficient: A character who uses a weapon, wears armor, or uses a shield with which he or she is not proficient is ineffective, taking a -4 penalty to their attack rolls.
Prone: The character is on the ground. Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Moving while prone is a full round action that inspires attacks of opportunity. Characters making attacks while prone are typically considered ineffective. Certain weapons, such as crossbows, may allow a character that is prone to attack without being considered ineffective.
A character that is prone has full cover against ranged attacks.
Opponent using Total Defense: As a standard action, a character may give up their attacks for the round in order to defend themselves. Opponents making melee and ranged attacks against that character are considered ineffective, taking a -4 to their attacks and losing any precision based damage (such as sneak attack).
Total Defense can’t be combined with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat (since both of those require an attack or full attack). Characters using the Total Defense action can’t make attacks of opportunity.

Hampered and Ineffective are pretty straight forward, and use the same basic ideas as the other combat conditions. Again, grouping the benefits prevents them from stacking to a point it becomes a problem.

Cover

Cover represents obstacles that stand between you and your target. This might include walls, wagons, and even other creatures. Cover provides a penalty to attacks made against you, and, in some circumstances, a bonus to your Reflex save as well.
Partial Cover: You are considered hampered when attacking around an obstacle that is up to half your reach in height or width. Attacking through a space occupied by a creature one size category smaller than you, or a creature your own size that is kneeling or sitting, provides Partial Cover.
Full Cover: You are considered ineffective when attacking around an obstacle that is larger than half your reach in height or width. Attacking through a space occupied by a creature your size or larger provides Full Cover.
Total Cover: If an opponent is entirely hidden behind another object or creature they have total cover from you. You can’t make an attack against a target that has total cover.
Cover and Ranged Attacks: Ranged attacks ignore partial cover if there is more than 30 feet between the target and the intervening cover. For example, an archer firing over a low wall will take no penalty for cover against targets that are at least 30 feet away.
Cover and Reflex Saves: Cover grants you a +2 bonus on Reflex saves against attacks that originate or burst out from a point on the other side of partial cover from you and a +4 bonus on Reflex saves against attacks that originate from a point on the other side of full cover. Note that spread effects can extend around corners and thus negate this cover bonus.
Cover and Hide Checks: If you have full cover or total cover you may attempt to use Stealth, even while being observed.
Cover and Attacks of Opportunity: You can’t execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with cover relative to you.

Concealment
Concealment Miss Chance: Concealment gives the subject of a successful attack a 20% chance that the attacker missed because of the concealment. If the attacker hits, the defender must make a miss chance percentile roll to avoid being struck. Multiple concealment conditions do not stack.
Concealment and Hide Checks: You can use concealment to make a Hide check. Without concealment, you usually need cover to make a Hide check.
Total Concealment: If you have line of effect to a target but not line of sight he is considered to have total concealment from you. You can’t attack an opponent that has total concealment, though you can attack into a square that you think he occupies. A successful attack into a square occupied by an enemy with total concealment has a 50% miss chance (instead of the normal 20% miss chance for an opponent with concealment).
You can’t execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with total concealment, even if you know what square or squares the opponent occupies.

Saving Throws
All characters share a common base saving throw progression, based on total character level.

Level Base Save
1st +0
2nd +0
3rd +1
4th +1
5th +2
6th +2
7th +3
8th +3
9th +4
10th +4
11th +5
12th +5
13th +6
14th +6
15th +7
16th +7
17th +8
18th +8
19th +9
20th +9

Each class has one or more saving throws trained. If a character has training in a saving throw, they add a +3 training bonus to that save. Training from multiple classes does not stack.
The feats Iron Will, Great Fortitude, and Lightning Reflexes each provide an additional +3 competence bonus to the appropriate save. These bonuses stack with the bonuses from Training.

For the most part what I'm posting here are house rules that I'm actively using in two games each week. If I decide to post something I just came up with off the top of my head and haven't tested, I'll mark it as such (sort of a swim at your own risk deal).

I've made a lot of tweaks to skills, combat, and a put in a good bit of work on various classes. Explanations of my reasoning on the changes are seperated as quotes from the The Man Behind the Curtain, to make them easier to find.

The majority of this is meant to fix what I see as a few major problems still sticking around in Pathfinder...

Primary Melee classes in general, and Fighters especially need some help.
Pathfinder went a long way to fixing the problems with casters being mechanically too strong, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. To be honest, I'm not entirely concerned with balancing the classes, in the sense of 1 on 1 comparisons. I feel like 4th edition went way too far in that direction, and all the classes feel very homogenous as a result.
Instead, I'm just trying to ensure that every class has at least a few roles it can fill in a party, and as much "flavor" as possible. I want there to be very good mechanical and roleplay reasons for someone to play every class.

Combat is slow, very slow at high level.
There are way too many conditions/actions that force you to spend valuable time flipping page to page to find a specific piece of information.
Combat Maneuvers were a brilliant move in the right direction, but there are still some places that Combat is suffering from sprawl. Combat modifiers were the worst, they're a huge hodgepodge of specific bonuses/penalties to AC, attack bonus, stats, stat-checks, saves, skills... pretty much everything in nearly random combinations. Some of them were really elegant examples of turning a description of something into specific game stats, but the constant work to figure out exactly what penalty/bonus someone had to their attack roll slows combat terribly.
If you want an example of just how much time it can take, figure out the bonuses/penalties to a Fatigued Fighter's attack roll after he's been Entangled and poisoned by a giant spider, and is Sickened by the fumes rising from it's castoff prey. (If you're wondering, it's -5 to attack unless he's using a ranged weapon or finesse,in which case it's -7 +1/2 of whatever the dex damage from the venom was, -3 weapon damage, -2 Fortitude and Will, -5 (+1/2 of dex damage from poison) to Reflex saves, -2 to skill and ability checks except those that work off str/dex, those you'll have to recalculate for -2 str/-6 dex.)
And all that is sort of the problem with how combat modifiers work, it took me a good 2 minutes to double check all that and write it out, and it's not exactly an impossible scenario. Trying to double check all that in combat, and keep track of it seperately for 4-6 characters and 2-4 npc's is a nightmare.

One of the few things I actually disliked in the Pathfinder changes was the removal of Concentration.
Fixing the way DCs scale in concentration would be great, but rolling it in with spellcraft forces you to remove all the non-spellcaster specific uses of the skill, and removes one more thing casters needed an off-casting stat for. Admittedly, Constitution is a decent off stat even without Concentration, but anything that reduces primary casters need for off stats should be looked at carefully, they already have too much weight on their one casting stat to the exclusion of almost everything else.
So I've made some changes to Skills to bring it back in, and fix some other minor annoyances at the same time.

I'll follow this post up with a couple brief posts giving a general overview of what I was going for with each set of changes, than I'll get into real specifics in a single long post for each section (combat, skills, and so on).