Brother Sooth's page

Thanks for the feedback, and glad you like the motif. If you're into Brutal Legend you may want to check out the Disciple of Metal class (an earlier version of that class is on this same forum, and it's much more extensive). I am going to be releasing a book with several Metal/Rock-themed classes relatively soon.

Yes, you understood correctly; Well-Oiled Machine is an inversion of the Inquisitor's Solo Tactics.

Considering your feedback, I realized that most of my dilemmas would indeed be solved by increasing the number of levels in the class. It is now a 7 level class. I know that's non-standard, but I prefer it over 5 or 10. The class should feel a bit less claustrophobic now. I kept You Got This! at low levels because I want the "Aid Another" machine build to be viable from an early Roadie level (as there are Boons which enhance this ability specifically).
I knocked down the prerequisites and skills per level as well.
Magic of the Road has been changed into a Boon ability, and there is a Healing boon and a Great Boon associated with them, too.

In the Roadie special feats, I added some feat support specifically for Rogues and Bards that should help the Roadie transition more easily into higher-level play.

If you folks decide to take another look at it, how do you feel about the Boons / "Boon trees" and their balance relative to one another?

Hello folks,

Here is a wacky prestige class which aims to encompass the support role in a way that's interesting to build and play. It's part of a series of classes themed around various Metal tropes and songs. Any and all feedback/critique will be appreciated. Cheers!

Roadie of the Damned

Hey folks,

This prestige class is part of the ongoing quest to make more Metal stuff for D&D. It is inspired by the works of the artist of the same name.

I would specifically welcome any sort of feedback on the balance, viability and mechanical appeal of the class. The goal is for the class to be cool and exciting, while not egregiously better than the already-awesome tier-1 divine caster classes.

Thanks and cheers!

Blind Guardian

I hope that folks will forgive my sort-of-necroposting here (is 5 months ago considered a necropost?); this project has been active, though I took my sweet time in coming back to this forum topic.

I feel like here would be among the best places to share... the Book of Metal.

For anyone who enjoyed the Disciple of Metal in any form, I urge you strongly to check this out.

Make the rest of your D&D characters Metal.
Make your campaign Metal.
Make everything Metal.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461682152/book-of-metal

Heh. I had the 3.5 version converted over to Pathfinder and we had a guy who played the lead singer of Blind Guardian, Hansi Kursch. He ended up pissing off the gods of metal who killed him with an oslutyh devil, and he was reincarnated from a human to a half-elf to a goblin and then back to a half-elf before being slaughtered in a most heinous way by a weretiger rogue. One of the best characters I have ever run with in a Kingmaker game. We made his great axe into an intelligent electric guitar axe that had flaming invective, so 3 times a day he could sing some verse of Blind Guardian that was so metal it caused his foes to catch on fire.

Aw man that is hilarious. What'd he do to piss off the Gods of Metal?

I'd be delighted to get some feedback and suggestions on this relatively straightforward class-in-progress. It's perhaps a few Deeds scarce of completion.

Knight of Badassdom

The Knights of Badassdom are warriors from across the realms who perished before their time, but not before their spirit and prowess earned recognition from the Gods of Metal. Thus they have been resurrected to do battle again; this time, with the Metal Gods’ power flowing through their veins. The ultimate aspiration for a Knight of Badassdom is to earn not merely a death worthy of song, but a death worthy… of Metal.

Role: In order to reach his full potential, a Knight of Badassdom must regularly engage in acts of intrepid recklessness with no shits given. Such a daring warrior can only be at home in the frontlines, shaking off blows and plunging balls-deep into the womb of danger. The more who engage him in battle, the better: a true Knight of Badassdom accepts all challengers.

Base Attack Bonus: As Fighter
Saving Throws: As Paladin

Class Features
1 At the Gates, Badass Deeds
2 Feats of Prowess (2 abilities)
3 Feats of Prowess (3 abilities), Dauntless +2
4 Feats of Prowess (4 abilities), Dauntless +4
5 Feats of Prowess (5 abilities), Dauntless +6

At the Gates (Ex): As soon as the Knight of Badassdom reaches Death's Door, the Gods of Metal begin a cosmic fanfare to welcome a worthy soul among their ranks. The Knight of Badassdom soars with resolve and Metal power such that he may attain the most spectacular end to his adventuring career. When Death finally knocks, the Knight's essence is drawn into the Planes of Mayhem, Beyond the realms of Death, where it is forever outside of mortalkind’s reach.

This results in the following benefits for the Knight of Badassdom:
* The Knight of Badassdom does not become staggered as a result of being reduced to 0 HP or less, and may act normally even at the brink of annihilation.
* The Knight of Badassdom adds his Hit Dice to his Constitution score for the purpose of determining how much of a negative HP total he can obtain before dying. (For example, a 10 Hit Die Knight dies when his hit points are reduced to a negative amount equal to his Constitution score +10).
* Once per day, when the Knight of Badassdom would be reduced from 0 HP or greater to -1 HP or less, his HP total becomes 0 instead and he gains 2 temporary Hero Points. These Hero Points are spent before any others the Knight may possess, and they are lost after 1 minute.
* Whenever a spell or effect would cause instant death or destruction to the Knight of Badassdom (including Disintegrate and other such effects that trigger upon reducing a target to 0 HP), the Knight of Badassdom ignores that effect and merely suffers the damage and other spell effects normally.
* As long as the Knight of Badassdom has a Constitution score, it may not be reduced below 1.

When the Knight of Badassdom is killed, no mortal magic - not even a Wish or Miracle spell - may restore his soul to its body.

The Gods of Metal generally frown upon use of the "Cheat Death" Hero Point option; at the GM's discretion, they may even outright forbid such usage among Knights of Badassdom except to avoid a death which would be particularly anti-climactic or non-Metal.

Badass Deeds: The Knight of Badassdom is defined by his capacity to perform deeds of particular valor and madness… and either live to speak of them, or perish in a blaze of glory. These deeds are so dubbed as Badass because they require accepting a challenge or setback that more practical (read: unworthy) foes would shy away from. By performing these Deeds, the Knight of Badassdom gains the Metal Gods’ favor and furthers his ability to kick ass and take names immediately thereafter.

At 1st level, the Knight of Badassdom gains access to the Badass Deeds below. Each Badass Deed has a cost or requirement that must be fulfilled for the Deed to function, and a benefit for performing it.

Deed of Inexorability (Ex): The Knight of Badassdom stands strong after withstanding the mightiest of assaults. Whenever the Knight receives a critical hit, the critical damage multiplier is treated as one step lower (x4 is reduced to x3, x3 to x2, and x2 is reduced to regular, non-multiplied damage). Once per combat, the Knight gains a temporary Hero Point whenever he sustains damage equal to half his maximum HP or greater in a single round.

Deed of Titan Wrestling (Ex): The Knight of Badassdom gains power and resolve from willingly placing himself within the terrible vice of titans, krakens and other massive monsters. Once per combat, when a creature of Huge or greater size rolls a Combat Maneuver check to grapple the Knight of Badassdom, he may choose to allow the creature’s check to automatically succeed; if he does, he gains a temporary Hero Point.

Furthermore, the Knight of Badassdom gains a +4 morale bonus to CMB checks made to grapple Huge creatures; the bonus increases to +6 against Gargantuan creatures and +10 against Colossal creatures.

Deed of Worthy Challenge (Su): The Knight of Badassdom draws strength from facing worthy opponents in single combat. Once per combat as a swift action, the Knight of Badassdom can challenge one target within sight to single combat. If the target has less Hit Dice than half of the Knight’s character levels, this ability fails because a worthy foe has not been found - and the Knight regains use of this ability for the combat. Otherwise, this ability functions similarly to the Cavalier’s Challenge ability; the Knight’s melee attacks deal extra damage equal to his character level to the target, and the Knight suffers a -2 penalty to Armor Class except against attacks made by the target of his challenge.

Unless the target is mindless, they instinctively become aware of the Knight’s challenge and may be under compulsion to answer it; they must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + ½ the Knight’s Hit Dice + the Knight’s Charisma modifier) or be compelled to face the Knight in combat until a clear victor emerges, ignoring other characters and focusing its attacks solely on the Knight. Allies of the target are not similarly affected and may still interfere in the duel to the displeasure of both parties.

Maintaining this ability requires that the Knight actually faces a worthy foe without assistance. The Knight’s Deed of Worthy Challenge ends when the combat ends, or if any of the following takes place:
An ally attacks or deals damage to the Knight’s target.
An ally heals damage to the Knight while he is fighting his target.
An ally takes the Aid Another action to assist the Knight against his target.
Other similar situations to the above which result in a direct aid to the Knight, at the GM’s discretion. Under no circumstance should a spell cast prior to the Knight declaring his challenge count as breaking the challenge.
Either the Knight or the target are knocked unconscious. or otherwise rendered unable to fight.

If the Deed of Worthy Challenge remains in effect for at least two full rounds, or if the Deed ends early because of the target retreating or being knocked unconscious by the Knight, the Knight of Badassdom gains one temporary Hero Point - even if the Deed ends shortly after.

Feats of Prowess (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, the Knight of Badassdom learns two combat abilities from the list below, and one additional ability every level thereafter. These abilities require Hero Points to use or otherwise interact with Hero Points; thus, it is said that they are fueled by a healthy amalgam of Metal Gods’ favor, the Knight’s own blazing spirit, and the tears of his enemies.

Each of these abilities may only be used once per combat; a Knight of Badassdom may, however, use multiple different abilities in the same combat.

Finishing Blow: Whenever the Knight of Badassdom damages a creature with a melee attack, he may spend a Hero Point to perform a Finishing Blow; if he does, the Knight’s attack deals additional damage equal to his character level. Furthermore, the Knight rolls 1d6 per point of Base Attack Bonus that he has. If the total roll is equal to or greater than the target’s remaining Hit Points (after subtracting damage from the attack), the target is immediately reduced to 0 hit points.

Improbable Maneuver: Whenever the Knight of Badassdom spends a Hero Point to grant himself a luck bonus to a combat maneuver check or reroll a combat maneuver check, he furthermore gains the Greater feat associated with that maneuver (Greater Trip, Greater Sunder, etc) until the start of his next turn, even if he does not meet the prerequisites for the feat in question. This benefit does not grant the Knight of Badassdom other related feats (such as Improved Trip or Sundering Strike).

Martial Virtuosity: As a free action during combat, the Knight of Badassdom may spend a Hero Point to gain a single Combat feat of his choice. He must choose a feat for which he meets the prerequisites, and he learns the feat only for the duration of the combat.

No Limits: The Knight of Badassdom may spend a Hero Point to gain his choice of two of the following. These effects last until the start of his next turn.
Climb speed equal to his base land speed.
Affected by Freedom of Movement (as the spell)
A +30 enhancement bonus to Acrobatics checks made to attempt high jumps or long jumps.
The ability to make a single high jump or long jump as a swift action (separate and in addition to any movement he makes during the round).

Reach for Blood: As a standard action, the Knight of Badassdom may spend a Hero Point and make a single melee attack against each opponent within reach; if the Knight possesses the Whirlwind Attack feat, he increases his reach by ten feet for the purpose of this attack.

Relentless Assault: Whenever the Knight of Badassdom makes a charge, he may spend a Hero Point to gain the Pounce special ability until end of turn.

Second Wind: As an immediate action, the Knight of Badassdom may spend a Hero Point to regain hit points equal to twice his character level.

Weather the Storm: Whenever the Knight of Badassdom spends a Hero Point to grant himself a luck bonus to a saving throw or to reroll a saving throw, he furthermore gains the Evasion and Stalwart abilities until the start of his next turn.

Dauntless (Ex): When he reaches 3rd level, the Knight of Badassdom gains a +2 bonus to saving throws against mind-affecting spells and abilities. This bonus increases by an additional 2 at levels 4 and 5.

I've long just wanted to strip the name of all the weapons and just have sets of mechanics.

Call it whatever the frack you want, it's your character.

Now you don't need a shortsword or gladius, you just have one set of identical stats.

I haven't looked to see how many weapons would could condense down into 1 set of mechanics, but I bet we could do quite a few (by also appending that a set of mechanics can be a bludgeoning or piercing or slashing weapon, but not in the connotation that exists now just that you can have a generic weapon with one of those three types).

Let the player decide what their weapon looks like and what to call it. As long as they're obeying the mechanics and limitations it shouldn't matter.

We would need to retool weapon groups for fighters, and maybe a few specific feats, but honestly I don't think it would be a big problem.

It sounds like you might be interested in the weapon approach of a low-key d20 system called Legend.

http://www.ruleofcool.com/

Basically, you hand-pick the stats and flavor for your weapon. There's no definitive table of weapons. Every weapon starts out doing a d6 with no properties, and you choose a certain number of basic upgrades for it. So between two weapons of hypothetically equal power, one might deal more damage while another may have semi-unique abilities.

Oh shoot. I meant to change the arming sword to 1d8 damage. Too late to edit it now.

Oh. Well I dig the new arming sword, then. :P

Another potential issue I notice is that pretty much nobody is going to use the Arming Sword under these rules unless they intend to TWF with their Shield -- at a notable mechanical disadvantage and/or feat tax for doing so.

With you 100%. These days I always tell my GM my character is using an Arming Sword even though he clearly has a 1d8 Longsword on his character sheet.

I like these weapon versions. Good stuff to use for campaigns interested in historical verisimilitude. For high-fantasy games - maybe. Historically accurate or not, warriors wielding giant two-handed blades has become something of a fantasy trope that is hard to separate from certain canons.

One thing that strikes me as odd though is that this suddenly makes the martial Greataxe a superior two-handed option in the non-polearm department. I suppose you could take the next step and revamp axes and all that, but then while you're at it you might as well make blunt weapons more effective versus armor and then rewrite the whole system....
EDIT: Maybe not. I missed that war swords have Brace now.

Now if we had only some functional rules for half-swording that made it worth using. :P

I ran an adventure recently that revolved around the search for the Sacred Heart (from the Dio song of the same name). The heart was an integral party of a larger artifact that kept a peaceful valley hidden from outsiders. My group loved it.

And there's also "Black Blade" by Blue Oyster Cult, based off the sword Stormbringer from the Elric novels.

That's awesome.

I've only been a player in one game where the GM made an explicit real-world music parallel. It was a tongue-in-cheek game in which the final dungeon was reigned over by one emerald dragon known as Michael Draxson. At the end of the dungeon we faced of course the Dragon himself, who wore sunglasses, danced across the battlefield, shouted at us with his Sonic breath, all while the GM had Jackson's "Beat It" playing.

It was actually rather apt and dramatic. We were out of our element and we knew it, but we had gone through hell and arduous trials just to get to that fight, so there's no way we were going to turn back at that final junction. To add to the ridiculousness, at the time I was playing a lizardfolk Bard called Sam Snakeo, who also wore sunglasses, played a saxophone, invoked "Yakkity Sax" whenever he played Bardic Inspiration, and so forth.

Blue Oyster Cult is a surprising powerful font of fantastic themes here. Isn't Veteran of the Psychic Wars also based off of Elric or M. Moorcock's work?

Yes, Manowar is basically a Gold mine. Their material is used more extensively with the Disciple.

Cute stuff. I once made up some 'silly spells' for a Bard, based off of musical genres, such as 'Heavy Metal' which caused all of the target's metal gear to increase in weight (encumbering them, possibly even dragging them to the ground, and giving them penalties to attack with now-super-heavy metal weapons) or 'Soft Rock' (which lowered the hardness of stone to zero for ease of tunneling, or hacking up a stone golem) or 'Hip Hop' (which allowed allies to make 10 ft. 'hops' instead of 5 ft. steps, and avoid AoOs, difficult terrain, etc.) or 'Easy Listening' (which gave allies bonuses to Listen checks and blindsight/sonar).

Random heavy metal item ideas;

KISS - Heaven's on Fire (this spiky flaming/flame burst bow or crossbow surrounds it's missiles with a dark flame that causes celestial / good-subtype creatures struck to save or catch on fire. This fire is unholy and ignores fire resistance and immunity. Holy water or positive energy extinguishes it.)

AC/DC - Hell's Bells (these iron bells cause good subtype outsiders, chaotic subtype outsiders and fey creatures to suffer sickening pains, a small amount of damage and deafness while rung. It requires a standard action to keep ringing them, but there is no save against the effect.)

Anthrax - Black Lodge (this black cube acts like Instant Fortress, but creates an extradimensional space has the evil planar trait, the caster can set the flow of time to twice normal or half normal compared to the outside world (resting for eight hours and returning to the mortal world only four hours later, for instance), and can never be above dim lighting)

Black Sabbath - Iron Man (this tiny iron figurine of wondrous power turns into a medium sized iron golem!)

Def Leppard - Rock of Ages (this stone can be used to cause foes touched by it to suffer penalties as if they had increased one age category, and to be fatigued, if they fail a Fort save. Those already venerable must save or die of old age, and crumble to dust! As long as you 'feed the stone' by...

Thanks, these are some great ideas. I never would have come up with something like Black Lodge on my own.

If you folks dig this sort of thing, you may want to also check out this:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tqp8?The-Disciple-of-Metal-Complete

I like this. I may do my own.

Go for it :)

No Locknar ? No 35,000 zoolax ? I'm disappointed.

If you're talking about the film, Loc-Nar is expected to be featured in the Heavy Metal Bestiary to come later. I didn't remember the 35000 zoolax (zolax? zulex?) reference until you brought it up, though.

To go with the Disciple of Metal (Heavy Metal Bard) class and other related content, the Armory of Metal features magic items of various power levels all based off Heavy Metal songs or tropes.

Some of the items are feasibly balanced, some are potentially game-breaking and best used with discretion, and some are really just there as tongue-in-cheek jokes. All feedback is welcome and I hope you find some of them to your enjoyment.

The Armory of Metal

Next installment is a Heavy Metal Arcanist.
The Brutalmancer.

The Brutalmancer is a continuation of the Dungeons & Metal Project, which aims to bring a plethora of Heavy Metal themed content to Pathfinder, and which began with the Disciple of Metal.

Here is the featured class on Google Docs:
The Brutalmancer

Thanks for your time and rock on.

Apparently I've been sharing the wrong Google Doc link to this class.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IxHvGEKJv4lYfZDYQDtRrarEDN3eJhEWgIwcFR6 v5FE/edit?usp=sharing

I hope this doesn't qualify as a necro-post, but I had someone ask if I could put these into Google Docs, so here is the Google Doc link to the same material:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mxEg1IYOcgE1p78uAY78gn8vop-vOpl4b2_fuVN XJ6U/edit?usp=sharing

Some kind of urban barbarian who opposed corrupt authority with some kind of smite law/smite evil hybrid.

That sort of archetype will definitely be supported/doable when I get around to making the full-on Warrior class.

Nothing wrong with tying Powerslide in with an ability, I will point out that the way it's written (not likely intended) it will damage everybody whose threatened squares you pass through. It could just say 'enemies' or it could be just creatures who actual square you pass through (which is a higher check). Otherwise, the wording technically hurts allies if you pass through a square they threaten which is a likely situation.

Just from an critiquing point of view, I know this is a homebrew, so you know how it's supposed to work.

I updated Powerslide to harm only enemies and clarified that Stage Dive is intended to harm friends and foes alike.

'Holy Diver' happens to be rather perfect for what I've just been doing. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and feedback.

Is it really impossible to make edits to the original post after X time? Ah well. I'm updating everything in Google Docs then. See the Google Doc version for the updated one.

'Fight Fire With Fire' has been added after synthesizing some changes.
The 'Louder than Hell' ability has been changed to grant pretty much any energy damage the Disciple deals with class features/abilities be half-divine, so it's no longer necessary to put that feature on a bunch of related powers.

The Disciple of Metal Google Doc actually has a fair amount of content not included in the original post - such as Feats for Disciples... and an Epic/Legendary class progression that will probably never be utilized by anybody with sanity to spare.

Mulling over the 'Power Slide' notion, I want to make sure that any decision the player makes to grab something is meaningful throughout the game. I've decided to try coupling Powerslide with another related ability and make them available as a Disciple Feat -- similar to how 3.5 had Einhander and Elusive Target and a bunch of other feats that enabled a few situational abilities. There may yet be room for a third thematic manuever in there somewhere.

Holy Diver
Prerequisites: One or more Euphonies
Benefit: Your mastery of stage theatrics and crowd-diving enables you to use both of the following maneuvers.

Powerslide: Whenever you would roll an Acrobatics check to move through threatened squares, you may expend one round of bardic performance to execute a Powerslide. If you do, you drop to the floor and are considered kneeling until you stand up again, and you roll a Perform (Metal) check instead of an Acrobatics check. Creatures whose threatened squares you pass through suffer 1d6 points of electricity damage per 2 ranks you have in Perform (Metal); a successful Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier) halves this damage.

Stage Dive: Whenever you would roll an Acrobatics check to make a jump or soften a fall, you may expend one round of bardic performance to execute a Stage Dive. If you do, you roll a Perform (Metal) check instead of an Acrobatics check, and you automatically land on your feet as long as falling damage does not knock you unconscious. Creatures near where you land suffer 1d6 points of sonic damage per 10’ that you fell (maximum 20d6); the area-of-effect is a radius of 10’ for every 40’ that you fell (minimum 10’, maximum 50’). A successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier) halves the sonic damage.

Brother Sooth wrote:

What do you folks think of this as one of the limited Disciple abilities?

Fight Fire With Fire (Su): ...

I think it sounds a bit more complicated than it needs to be. I don't like the 5 times spell level thing. What if you're just getting pelted with acid orb or ray of frost? Sure those are piddly, but still...

I would suggest it be along the lines of:
'...When you take energy damage you may expend an immediate action and 1 round of bardic performance. Before the end of your next round any spell you cast with the same energy descriptor as the damage taken deals 2 extra points of energy damage per Disciple level to your attacker. Area-of-effect spells add this damage to all targets as long as the original attacker is within the target area.

You may also use your Instrument of Destruction to deal this bonus energy damage as a melee attack if you strike the original attacker in addition to your normal weapon damage. The effect lasts until the end of your next turn, so it can be used for multiple attacks or attacks of opportunity during this time.'

You must be aware of the attack and able to identify the attacker and be wielding your Instrument of Destruction to use this ability.

Obviously the damage range is variable and the Instrument of Destruction stuff is just for example purposes. I didn't do the half-divine half-energy thing but obviously that's all your call. No one really wants to have to stop and look up the level of every spell or whether it's heightened or whether that fire effect is spell-like or supernatural, then figure out what the HD of the guy who hit you with an alchemist fire was (which might tip you off to how powerful they are or are not) or whether that even counts as being from the creature technically. Keep it as simple as, "What's your Disciple level? +X damage!" That's just my critique and advice, of course.

This is excellent feedback and I'll be incorporating it. I had entertained the idea of making it just based on the Disciple level but wanted to try and make the retribution at least vaguely-and-theoretically proportionate to the strength of the initial hit. Simplicity is good though; looking up caster levels and Hit Dice and revealing meta-mechanics etc is not.

What do you folks think of this as one of the limited Disciple abilities?

Fight Fire With Fire (Su): The Disciple brings punishing retaliation (and also death) to those who would try and set him aflame (or ashock, or afrost, etc). Whenever the Disciple of Metal suffers energy damage from a spell, supernatural ability, or similar effect (GM’s discretion), he may spend an immediate action and expend one round of bardic performance; if he does, he bolsters his subsequent counterattack against the unsuspecting target. Once within the next round, if the Disciple damages his foe with a spell or ability dealing the same type of energy damage as was inflicted against him, he gains a profane bonus to the energy damage equal to 5 times the level of the spell used against him. If the Disciple was damaged by a supernatural ability or other effect not directly comparable to a spell, the damage bonus instead equals twice the target’s Hit Dice (max 50). Furthermore, half of the counterattack’s damage is considered divine power and not subject to energy resistance.

In order to benefit from Fight Fire With Fire, the Disciple must be aware of the attack upon him and who the attacker is. The Disciple’s spell or ability only improves if it would damage his attacker (though other targets can be affected as well) and if it deals damage of the same energy type as was dealt to him. (For example, if a wizard foolishly damages the Disciple with a lightning bolt, the Disciple can spend an immediate action to ready his counterattack and, on the following round, use a Chain Lightning with a +15 profane bonus to damage against all of its targets - as long as the wizard is among those targets - and half of the total damage would be considered divine power. Get rocked.)

Might need a 1/performance Power-slide (Ex) ability that lets you use your Performance check in place of the Tumble/Acrobatics check to avoid AoO or even pass through enemy squares.. The difference is you end your movement kneeling and are considered kneeling during your entire movement, so anyone you fail your check against might have a slightly better chance to hit you if your Metal isn't strong. At higher levels, enemies whose squares you pass through take 5d6 electrical damage (Reflex for half).

I like it. My mind jumps to ETC from Heroes of the Storm and his 'Q' ability of the same name.

@ Brother Sooth any update on this?

What other character classes are you working on? Any chance of a Slayer archetype based on the band Slayer? I'm thinking a metal Barbarian would be cool, when I hear Refuse/Resist I think Barbarian.

I don't think the Fight Fire With Fire suggestion you gave was overpowered; on the contrary, I think a situational ability (one you use only when getting hit with fire) would need to be very compelling in order to be balanced so that you'd wanna choose it instead of other things. I'll mull over it for a bit though and see if maybe the idea can be broadened a bit to be more usable *or* to see if it might be better as a Feat (which would make it easier to make room for in a build than if it was a Cacophony or Disciple Ability), so I haven't made anything with it yet.

There's gonna be at least one formidable Fighter-like prestige class to come. It'll be widely encompassing rather than tied to a specific band. Of course, I already broke that precedent by making a prestige class based off of a single song, which is featured here:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2truo?The-Sentinel-WorkinProgress

Can you make this into a Google Doc so I can save it to my drive?

Already done! In hindsight, it might have been easier just to link to the Google Doc than to repost and reformat everything for Paizo. Ah well XD

Here ya go:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IxHvGEKJv4lYfZDYQDtRrarEDN3eJhEWgIwcFR6 v5FE/edit

The Sentinel PRc is the second part in a series of content aimed at bringing the world of Heavy Metal into the Pathfinder RPG. This series begins with the Disciple of Metal, featured here:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2tqp8?The-Disciple-of-Metal-Complete#12

It is explicitly based on the Judas Priest song of the same name.

*************

Upon this sign the challengers / With shrieks and cries rush forth
The knives fly out like bullets / Upon their deadly course
Screams of pain and agony / Rent the silent air
Amidst the dying bodies / Blood runs everywhere
The figure stands expressionless / Impassive and alone
Unmoved by this victory / And the seeds of death he’s sown

The Sentinels were an ancient order of weapon-masters who practiced the esoteric arts of knife-throwing and kept guardianship over the people of their remote territories. Under circumstances lost to the shuffle of history, their lands were cast into ruin and the organization was destroyed. Only a handful of Sentinels remain; they wander seemingly without purpose save to avenge their fallen and to pass on the teachings of their deadly art.

The Sentinel

Role: Sentinels blend the roles of skirmisher and ranged assault, weaving across the fray while perforating their enemies with throwing knives. As many foes learn much too late, Sentinels are also versed in crowd-control due to their ability to saturate an area with deadly blades.

Alignment: Sentinels can be of any alignment. Those who harbor a connection to the lost traditions of the original Sentinels may harbor a Lawful bent. Many Sentinels lean toward Neutrality or Chaos because of the perspective and self-sufficiency that a wanderer’s isolation brews.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements
To prepare themselves for the arduous rites of the Sentinel, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +4

Feats: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus (dagger, or some similar throwable light weapon)

Class Skills

The Sentinel’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

1 Enhance Knives +1, Bonus Feat
2 Sentinel Technique (first ability, 1/encounter)
3 Superior Conditioning
4 Enhance Knives +2, Sentinel Technique (new ability)
5 Bonus Feat, Sentinel Technique (2/encounter)
6 Sentinel Technique (new ability)
7 Enhance Knives +3, Superior Conditioning
8 Sentinel Technique (new ability)
9 Bonus Feat, Sentinel Technique (3/encounter)
10 Enhance Knives +4, Sentinel Technique (new ability)

A Note on “Throwing Knives”
Multiple abilities below only function when the Sentinel uses “throwing knives.” This term is purposefully loosely defined so as to allow the GM and the players to use their common judgment when deciding which weapons count as “throwing knives.” Obviously, thrown Daggers count. Weapons which are not light or throwable, like a dagger, need not apply. What other light, throwable weapons count? You decide.

Bonus Feat: At 1st, 5th and 9th level, the Sentinel gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained by normal advancement. These bonus feats must be selected from the following list: Close-Quarters Thrower, Deadly Aim, False Opening, Distance Thrower, Far Shot, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Precise Shot, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Manyshot, Pinpoint Targeting, Precise Shot, Two-Weapon Fighting. The Sentinel must meet the prerequisites for any feat he chooses.

Enhance Knives (Su): The Sentinel’s knives cut deeper and soar farther than thought possible by mundane throwers. Starting at 1st level, every throwing knife the Sentinel lets fly becomes magical and gains a +1 enhancement bonus. This stacks with any existing weapon enhancement allowing for a maximum of a +5 bonus. Furthermore, any throwing knife the Sentinel wields is considered to have the Distance magical property in addition to any others. These new properties only exist for the Sentinel himself, and the knives may well register as nonmagic otherwise.

At levels 4, 7, and 10, this ability improves so that the Sentinel’s throwing knives grant greater enhancement bonuses. Alternatively, the Sentinel can choose special weapon properties in place of enhancement bonuses (such as flaming in exchange for a +1 bonus); these properties are likewise in addition to existing weapon properties, but duplicates do not stack.

After completing an 8 hour rest or by merely spending 1 hour in quiet meditation, the Sentinel can change or repick the distribution of these bonuses (which magical properties to impart, and so forth). All of his throwing knives gain the selected bonuses until he chooses to change them.

Sentinel Technique: The Sentinel’s signature maneuver is the ability to throw a boundless quantity of knives with which to lacerate and perforate his manifold foes. At levels 2, 4,6, 8 and 10, the Sentinel gains one ability from the list below. Instead of choosing a different option at a later level, the same choice may be selected twice for improved effectiveness.

Once per encounter, the Sentinel may use a single Sentinel Technique that he knows. At 5th level, he may use a Sentinel Technique twice per encounter; at 9th level, he may use a Sentinel Technique three times in an encounter. All Sentinel Techniques share the same per-encounter recharge period (so a 4th level Sentinel who knows two techniques must still choose which one he wishes to use in an encounter, instead of being able to use both of them once).

All of the below abilities can be used as a standard action and the saving throw DC is equal to 10 + ½ the Sentinel’s Hit Dice + the Sentinel’s Strength or Dexterity modifier (whichever is higher).
If the Sentinel possesses the Shot on the Run feat, he gains increased versatility with Sentinel Techniques; this allows him to spend a full-round action to move up to his speed and use a Sentinel Technique he knows at any point during his movement.

Deadly Barrage (Ex): The Sentinel chooses a single 20’ radius spread within range and deals piercing damage to each creature in that area; the damage is 1d6 per character level of the Sentinel (max 10d6) with a successful Reflex save for half. This ability has a range of 25’ + 5’ per two Hit Dice of the Sentinel.
If this ability is taken twice, the Sentinel can choose to alter the radius spread, decreasing it to as little as 10’ or increasing it to as large as 30’, selected each time he uses this ability; the damage cap also increases to 15d6 and the range increases to 50’ + 5’ per Hit Die of the Sentinel.

Death Blossom (Ex): When the Sentinel wishes to kill everything in the immediate vicinity, he can throw knives at all creatures within 20’, dealing 1d8 piercing damage per character level of the Sentinel (max 10d8) with a successful Reflex save for half. If this ability is taken twice, the Sentinel can choose to increase the area-of-effect from 20’ to 25’ or 30’, selected each time he uses this ability; the damage cap also increases to 15d8 and the saving throw DC increases by 2.

Fan of Knives (Ex): The Sentinel can throw knives in a 30’ cone originating from him; each creature in the area suffers 1d6 piercing damage per character level of the Sentinel (max 10d6) and a successful Reflex save halves this damage.
If this ability is taken twice, the Sentinel can choose the size of the cone to be anywhere from 30’ to a maximum distance of 60’, selected each time he uses this ability; the damage cap also increases to 15d6 and the saving throw DC increases by 2.

Perforating Tunnel (Ex): The Sentinel can unleash knives that damage all creatures in a 60’ line originating from him; each creature in the area suffers 1d8 piercing damage per character level of the Sentinel (max 10d8) and a successful Reflex save halves this damage. If this ability is taken twice, the Sentinel can choose the length of the line to be anywhere from 60’ to a maximum length of 120’, selected each time he uses this ability; the damage cap also increases to 15d8.

Superior Conditioning: At levels 3 and 7, the Sentinel’s physical conditioning allows him one choice from the boons below. Instead of choosing a different option at level 7, the same choice may be selected twice for an improved benefit.

Defensive Training (Ex): The Sentinel gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC and a +1 competence bonus to all saving throws. If taken twice, these bonuses increase to +2.

Evasion (Ex): The Sentinel gains Evasion, which functions identically to the 2nd level Rogue ability of the same name. If the Sentinel takes this ability a second time, or if he already has Evasion from another class when he chooses this ability, he instead gains Improved Evasion (as per the Rogue Advanced Talent).

Skirmisher (Ex): The Sentinel gains a +5-foot bonus to his land speed and the Mobility feat even if he does not meet the prerequisites for it. If taken twice, this bonus increases to +10 feet and he furthermore gains the Shot on the Run feat.

Looks like I have my next character concept figured out: Saint Bruce of Dickinson. His patron god is Eddie and his battle song is: Run to the Hills.

Dude, if you actually get a chance to play such a character, I'd be delighted to hear the stories of their Metal exploits.

Are you taking suggestions?

Fight Fire With Fire (Su): when attacked with fire the metal disciple can respond in kind (called counterattack) as an immediate action. This attack automatically hits the attacker and any adjacent creature to the attacker and inflicts equal damage to what was initially rolled. This damage is half fire and half divine damage. The creature struck by this counterattack can make a reflex save for half damage, the DC is equal to 10 plus number of levels of metal disciple plus constitution bonus. Note: only fire damage is ever reciprocated so if hit by the spell flame strike only the fire component is used to calculate the counterattack. An attack must do two or more points of fire damage to trigger a counterattack.

Thanks! I'm happy to take suggestions.

So you know, I'm making literally over a hundred pages more of Heavy Metal-themed content for Pathfinder - classes, feats, magic items galore. After releasing a lot of content on the forums, the long-term plan is to start putting PDFs up for sale that have collections of Heavy Metal-Pathfinder content.

I don't yet have anything written for the song 'Fight Fire With Fire', but it definitely belongs in there - something very similar to what you suggested.

I like that it goes up level 11. Some kind of monster? Ugh. Should have gone with the thing that should not be. I don't see any Dio or Slayer in this.

'Disciple' and 'Angel of Death' are both featured Slayer songs. Thanks for pointing out the glaring and conspicuous omission of Dio; I'll have to rectify that.

The Disciple of Metal began years ago as a project for D&D 3.5 to make the most comprehensive and brutal Heavy Metal Bard PrC to date. This is the Pathfinder version, more-or-less finished. I'm posting this as part of a series of similarly themed content such that there will be other classes and content strictly Heavy-Metal themed, too. Happy to accept feedback nonetheless. Rock on and I hope you find it to your liking.

***
...And the music played on, each pull of the string fostering harmonies that drove the warriors to murderous frenzy. Those who dared stand against them fell to a man; their their blood seeped into the hillside and fed the hungry earth.

…And the music played on, each chord the sanguine finality of Kings and infidels alike. Atop the mountain’s peak, penetrating the thundering nimbus of the heavens and towering over lesser mortals stood one man, an Axe cradled in his arms, his fingers shredding its surface with inhuman celerity. From his lips escaped but one word – one word that spoke for the pillars of corpses at his feet, the ruins of palaces and the seeds of brutality, at once and forever:

“Metal.”

Disciple of Metal
Aliases: Badass Bard, Battle Bard, Heavy Metal Bard, Iron Man (Maiden), Brother (Sister) of Metal

Role: Disciples are not like other pansy mewling bards. A Disciple of Metal finds his home on the frontline, where fresh blood is spilt and heads are split atwine. His music and his weapon are one and the same.

Alignment: Disciples inherently represent the annihilation of axioms and boundaries. Though oft worshippers of Metal gods, Disciples forge their own path, write their own rules, and don't take shit from anyone. Thus, it is especially common for Disciples of Metal to be Chaotic aligned - especially Chaotic Badass.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements
To prove themselves worthy of bloody baptism into the ranks of Metal, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Alignment: Any chaotic, unless the non-chaotic character is sufficiently brutal and awesome (this is between you and the GM).

Feats: Power Attack, Toughness.

Skills: Perform (anything that can be called Metal) 5 ranks.

Spells: Ability to cast 2nd level arcane spells.

Special: Bardic performance or equivalent class feature (such as Raging Song).

Class Skills

The Disciple of Metal's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Base Attack Bonus: As Fighter
Saving Throws: Good Fort
Class Ability Progression

1 The Gods Made Heavy Metal, Euphony
2 Instrument of Destruction, Cacophony
3 Disciple, +1 spell caster level
4 Euphony
5 Cacophony, +1 spell caster level
6 Disciple
7 Euphony, +1 spell caster level
8 Cacophony
9 Disciple, +1 spell caster level
10 Cacophony
11 Brutal Legend, +1 spell caster level

The Gods Made Heavy Metal (Ex): …and they saw that it was good. Henceforth, all of the Disciple’s bardic magic is considered, for all intents and purposes, divine magic. He gains proficiency in medium and heavy armor. Since his magic is divine now, even the heaviest of metal apparel won't interfere with his spell casting or abilities. The Disciple becomes so inured to the impossibly loud noises demanded by his vocation that he gains sonic resistance equal to his Hit Die and automatically succeeds on Fortitude saves against deafness.

The Disciple adds his class levels in Disciple of Metal to his Bard levels for the purpose of determining daily uses of Bardic Performance, their effectiveness and action type, and what performances are available to him. He does not gain or improve other Bard abilities, such as Bardic Knowledge, Jack of All Trades or Versatile Performance.

Becoming a Heavy Metal Skald: Vikings are well-received by the Metal Gods, as are other performers who aspire toward their traditions of storytelling and facemauling. A Skald who gains levels in Disciple of Metal improves his Raging Song abilities and learns new songs in the same manner that a Bard would progress Bardic Performance. He even improves upon and gains new Rage Powers as though advancing in Skald, but he does not progress other Skald class features such as Uncanny Dodge or Spell Kenning. Note that, in exchange for being able to advance their Rage Powers, a Skald / Disciple of Metal does not have the option of accessing the Euphony boons imparted with Inspire Greatness or Inspire Heroics, as the Skald does not learn those songs. This prestige class functions otherwise identically, so that you can replace all references of Inspire Courage with Inspired Rage and Bardic Performance with Raging Song in order to play a Skald / Disciple of Metal.

Spellcasting: A 3rd level and every odd-numbered level in Disciple of Metal afterwards, that savage champion of steel, adds one to his Bard (or Skald) level for spell casting purposes, granting him more spells per day, spells known, and increasing his caster level with such spells.

Euphony (Su): At levels 1, 4, and 7, the Disciple selects one Euphony. Euphonies further enhance the empowering effects of bardic music and are magnificent for mortal ears to behold. Whenever the Disciple of Metal uses Inspire Courage, Inspire Greatness or Inspire Heroics, his otherwise inferior bardic music becomes Metal by taking on the aspect of a chosen Euphony. He can invoke a known Euphony at will as part of the same action used to create bardic music, and the effects end when the bardic music ends. Only one Euphony may be in effect at any given time (unless multiple Disciples are present, in which case the universe collapses under the sheer weight of the epic splendor to follow). These Euphonies have additional effects when used in conjunction with more potent performances, as listed.

Bulletproof: Those affected gain DR 5/magic against attacks from firearms. The far-reaching potency of Metal means that even worlds that have yet to invent gunpowder have heard of this euphony; it just doesn't do anything useful there.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +5 deflection bonus to Armor Class against firearms.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they also gain DR 5/- against firearms.

Fight Until We Die: Those affected gain the ability to fight until victory or death, doubling their morale bonus to Will saving throws against fear and acting as though they had the Diehard feat.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +2 bonus to their Constitution score.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, plus: death only comes to the affected ally when he reaches a negative HP value equal to twice his (new) Constitution score. Because this tenacity is brought about only by the power of Metal, a character who is into the negatives for their Constitution score or below when this Euphony ceases affecting them will immediately die.

Guardians of Fate: Those affected gain the protection of cosmic forces, resulting in a +1 luck bonus to Armor Class.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +1 luck bonus to saving throws.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they gain 1 temporary hero point, as per the Heroic Fortune spell; this effect can't trigger more than once per character per day, even if the Disciple ends his song and starts anew.

Heaven Can Wait: Those affected gain the ability to defy the grave, resulting in a +3 bonus to Will saving throws against channeled negative energy, Fortitude saving throws against Necromancy spells, and the supernatural abilities of the undead (such as energy drain).
Inspire Greatness: They also gain the benefits of Death Ward, making them immune to many such effects.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness and their saving throw bonuses granted by this Euphony are +5 instead.

Into the Storm: Those affected gain a +10' enhancement bonus to their speed for all movement types, and a +4 bonus to initiative rolls. If an affected ally has already rolled initiative for the encounter, this bonus results in a new total for them which takes effect on the following round.
Inspire Greatness: The bonus to speed is tripled (+30’ enhancement bonus).
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and their movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity; they can even move through the spaces of creatures larger than they are, provided that they do not end their turn in such spaces.

One Shot At Glory: Those affected gain a +4 morale bonus to attack rolls made to confirm critical hits, allowing them to reap bloodshed and fame on the battlefield. On a successful critical hit, their attack deals an additional 1d6 damage per critical multiplier (2d6 for a x2 multiplier, 3d6 for a x3 multiplier, etc).
Inspire Greatness: They also gain the ability to make a final strike if brought to the brink of oblivion. If an affected ally is dropped to 0 HP, they may make a melee attack against a foe they threaten as an immediate action.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they also gain the benefits of Improved Critical with any weapon they wield.

Refuse, Resist: Those affected become resistant to magical influences upon the mind, gaining a +3 bonus to saving throws against mind-affecting spells or abilities.
Inspire Greatness: When you start playing this Euphony, affected allies may also make an immediate saving throw against any such influences currently upon them.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness and their saving throw bonuses granted by this Euphony are +5 instead.

Sacrament of Wilderness: Those affected resist binding ties and constricting chains,
gaining a +3 bonus to saving throws and CMB checks against effects that impede movement, such as web, paralysis and slow. They also gain a +3 bonus to Combat Maneuver Defense against grappling attempts.
Inspire Greatness: The above bonuses are increased to +5.
Inspire Heroics: They move and act as though under the influence of a Freedom with Movement spell, effectively telling many such impediments to piss off.

Strength Beyond Strength: Those affected gain a +2 bonus to Combat Maneuver checks, Combat Maneuver Defense, Strength checks and Strength-based skill checks.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +2 morale bonus to their actual Strength score.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, except that they gain a +4 morale bonus to their Strength score instead of +2.

Tattered Flags and Bloody Banners: Those affected gain increased fervor as death approaches, granting them a +2 morale bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls and saving throws while reduced to half HP or less.
Inspire Greatness: A character whose hit points are 0 or less while this Euphony affects them gains 1 temporary hero point, as per the Heroic Fortune spell; this effect can't trigger more than once per character per day, even if the Disciple ends his song and starts anew.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they actually gain a +4 morale bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls and saving throws while reduced to half HP or less.

The Grand Conjuration: Those affected gain a +2 profane bonus to Concentration checks and add 1 to the saving throw DCs of their spells.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +2 profane bonus to checks made to defeat spell resistance.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they receive +1 caster level, improving the potency of their spells and allowing them to further demolish the fabric of the cosmos.

Through the Fire and Flames: Those affected gain resistance 10 against a single energy type (specified upon activation between acid, cold, fire, electricity or sonic), allowing them to carry on. The Disciple grants 15 points of resistance at 10th level and 20 points at 20th level.
Inspire Greatness: They gain double the listed amounts of resistance, up to 40 points at 20th level.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and the resistance applies against all available energy types instead of one. Waaaaaaah!

Instruments of Destruction (Ex): At 2nd level, the Disciple’s weapon… becomes his instrument! By making a sacrifice of 2500 gp to the Metal Gods and ritualistically headbanging for eight hours, he may turn any magical melee weapon into a masterwork instrument; it’s still a goddamn weapon. An axe, for example, may double up as a guitar. As a result of his Metal training, he has no difficulty jamming out in the thick of battle whilst surrounded by ravenous foes (although the restrictions for what actions can be taken while maintaining bardic performance still apply). This instrument grants the Disciple (and only the Disciple) a competence bonus to Perform checks equal to 1/2 his Hit Dice, in addition to the +2 circumstance bonus for being masterwork. A Disciple can only have one such weapon glorified at a time.

Cacophony (Sp): At levels 2, 5, 8 and 10, the Disciple masters a Cacophony from the list below. Cacophonies wreak destructive havoc upon the battlefield and are generally unpleasant for non-Disciples to listen to. In order to successfully invoke the Metal Gods' power thusly, the Disciple must expend the specified number of daily rounds for bardic performance and make a successful Perform check; if he fails his check, he will have wasted his daily music and his enemies will mock him ‘til death (their death, not his).

Most Cacophonies duplicate existing spells. As the Disciple grows in level, he usually gains the ability to invoke a wider array of spells through his Cacophonies. For example, Children of the Grave initially grants access to Animate Dead, but a 12 Hit Die Disciple may also use it for Create Undead, and so forth. When the Disciple has a choice of multiple spells to invoke in a Cacophony, he chooses which one to use each time he activates the ability and prior to rolling his Perform check. All spells duplicated through the use of a Cacophony have a save DC of 10 + the spell level + the Disciple’s Charisma modifier, and use the Disciple’s Hit Dice in place of caster level for all purposes. Some of the Cacophony options apply the effects of certain Metamagic feats - such as Empower Spell or Widen Spell - to the listed spells; the Disciple does not need to possess these feats.

1000 Eyes: The Disciple's foes find themselves in the pupil of a thousand eyes and all of their pathetic falsehoods are penetrated. This cacophony duplicates spells that reveal the unseen.
7th Level (DC 25 Performance check, 1 rd of bardic music): See Invisibility
9th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 1 rd of bardic music): Invisibility Purge
13th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 4 rds of bardic music): True Seeing

Acid Bath: The Disciple bathes his environs in seething acid.
7th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Acid Pit
9th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 4 rds of bardic music): Acidic Spray
13th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 6 rds of bardic music): Caustic Eruption

Children of the Grave: The Disciple's music awakens the dead to do his bidding.
7th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Animate Dead
11th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Create Undead
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 5 rds of bardic music): Create Greater Undead

Creeping Death: The Disciple draws upon the music of the chosen one, summoning insects as per the spell below.
7th Level (DC 20 Performance check, 1 rds of bardic music): Summon Swarm
11th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Insect Plague
13th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 5 rds of bardic music): Creeping Doom

Death in Fire: The Disciple summons a storm of lethal flames. Only death remains.
7th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Volcanic Storm
11th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Fire Snake
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 6 rds of bardic music): Fire Storm

Fatal Energy: The Disciple rends the life force of one who dares to oppose him.
7th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Enervation
9th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Slay Living
13th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 6 rds of bardic music): Finger of Death

Holy Thunderforce (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): The Disciple imbues his instrument of destruction with holy thunderforce: on the weapon's next successful melee attack, it invokes a vertical column of thunderforce centered the target that functions as a Flame Strike spell except that half of the damage is electric (instead of fire), and the other half of it is divine awesomeness. The Disciple is immune to his own damage from this Cacophony, and the damage it deals is in addition to the regular effects of the attack. The imbue lasts for 1 minute per caster level or until discharged.

Master of Puppets: The Disciple twists the mind and pulls the strings of a single poor bastard, as per the potent enchantment below. There are two important differences between this cacophony and casting the spell. First, the duration is reduced to eighty-six rounds (8 minutes, 36 seconds). Second, once under the effect, victims suffer a -2 penalty on saving throws triggered by being commanded to act against their nature.
7th Level (DC 25 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Dominate Person
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 6 rds of bardic music): Dominate Monster

Operation Ground & Pound: The Disciple forces the environs to rock with a galvanizing solo.
7th Level (DC 25 Performance check, 1 rd of bardic music): Enlarged Raging Rubble
11th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Animate Objects
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 6 rds of bardic music): Earthquake

Primordial Breath: Drawing from the magic of forces ancient and terrifying, the Disciple emulates one of the spells below to produce a battle-changing mist of the ages.
7th Level (DC 25 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Stinking Cloud
9th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Cloudkill
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 5 rds of bardic music): Incendiary Cloud

Prince of Darkness: The Disciple summons forth darkness that is more deadly than man.
7th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 1 rd of bardic music): Deeper Darkness
9th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Black Tentacles
13th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 5 rds of bardic music): Hungry Darkness

Rage of the Winter: The Disciple channels winter's vengeance.
7th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Ice Storm
11th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 4 rds of bardic music): Maximized Ice Spears
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 6 rds of bardic music): Empowered Cone of Cold

Ride the Lightning: Death is in the air when the Disciple invokes this Cacophony, electrocuting foes with a spell below.
7th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Lightning Bolt
11th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Chain Lightning
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 6 rds of bardic music): Storm Bolts

Sea of Madness: The Disciple conjures a bewildering song that ravages the mind.
7th Level (DC 25 Performance check, 1 rd of bardic music): Confusion
13th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Insanity
15th Level (DC 40 Performance check, 5 rds of bardic music): Widened Song of Discord

Shout at the Devil: The Disciple casts out unnatural and unwanted powers.
7th Level (DC 25 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Dismissal
11th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Undeath to Death
15th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Banishment (Heightened to 8th level)

Some Kind of Monster (DC 25 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): The sheer brutality of the Disciple of Metal’s playing becomes so monstrous that he attracts the attention of extraplanar entities bent on total destruction. This cacophony invokes Summon Monster of the highest level that a Sorcerer of the Disciple's caster level could cast, e.g Summon Monster VII for a 14th level Disciple. The Disciple of Metal can only summon “monsters” of non-good alignment; once summoned, such creatures proceed to attack anything in sight that’s nearby or possibly perceived as threatening. They will not attack Disciples of Metal, but he cannot control them and they will probably devour the Disciple’s allies at some point.

Superbeast (DC 35 Performance check, 3 rds of bardic music): Truly the one who the enemy wants, the Disciple transforms as per the aptly named Transformation spell. While changed into the Superbeast, the Disciple retains his ability to activate bardic class abilities, Euphonies and Cacophonies even though he can no longer cast spells. To even select this song, the Disciple of Metal must first prove himself to the Metal Gods by possessing seven levels in this class.

Symphony of Destruction: The Disciple renders destruction through the force of punishing sound.
7th Level (DC 25 Performance check, 1 rd of bardic music): Enlarged Shatter (Heightened to 4th level)
13th Level (DC 30 Performance check, 2 rds of bardic music): Sympathetic Vibration
15th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 4 rds of bardic music): Greater Shout
17th Level (DC 35 Performance check, 5 rds of bardic music): Pied Piping

Disciple: At levels 3, 6, and 9, the Disciple grows closer to becoming the epitome of all things Metal. He chooses an aspect of Metal from the list below:

Angel of Death (Su): The Disciple is a monarch to the kingdom of the dead, wielding true necromancy in the name of Metal. When using a Cacophony to invoke Animate Dead, the Disciple is considered to be four levels higher when determining the number of Hit Dice he animates. By making a Perform check (DC 25), the Disciple can invoke Command Undead as a spell-like ability; there is no limit to how often he may do this. The Disciple must possess the Children of the Grave Cacophony before he may select this ability.

Deathbringer from the Sky (Ex): The Disciple becomes no mere man. Monstrous and wicked is he, such that he gains a +5 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks but suffers a -5 circumstance penalty to Diplomacy checks. He gains a climb speed of 30' and a +10 competence bonus to Jump checks. At 10 Hit Dice, the Disciple gains a Fly speed equal to his base speed. These changes cannot be reversed by any means short of mutilating the Disciple and remaking his form anew.

Defender of the Faith (Su): The Disciple becomes a champion crusader… of Metal. He gains a +2 sacred bonus to attack rolls against the enemies of Metal, and his attacks deal an additional 2d6 damage against them. At 12 Hit Dice, this bonus to attack damage increases to 4d6.

(If your DM isn’t up to the nebulous task of determining what constitutes an enemy of Metal, have the bonuses apply to non-Metal Clerics and Bards, Lawful-aligned entities, and creatures of the Fey subtype.)

Iron Man (Su): The Disciple's own body becomes like Metal. Ordinary weapons glance off of him as though they were manufactured by Mattel. He gains DR/magic equal to 5 per Disciple ability he possesses, and a +1 natural bonus to AC per 3 Hit Die (max +5).

Louder than Hell (Su): By means of sundering the veil between worlds and turning it up to eleven, the Disciple of Metal makes his spells roar louder than the incessant screams of tortured, tormented souls. He treats his Hit Dice and caster level as 3 higher for the purpose of determining the range of Bard spells and Cacophonies. Whenever he deals energy damage with a Bard spell or Cacophony, he ignores 5 points of energy resistance per Disciple ability he has.

Radical Resistance (Ex): And so let it be written that the Disciple of Metal was a fearless, indomitable songster of gratuitous violence and mayhem. Twice per day, the Disciple of Metal may reroll a failed saving throw against any mind-affecting effect. Furthermore, he adds his Charisma modifier to Will saves instead of his Wisdom modifier.

The Triumph of Steel (Ex): The Disciple spurns the insufferable titles of 'hybrid' and 'support' and hones his martial prowess to adamantium heights. When fighting with his instrument of destruction, he gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls and a +2 bonus to damage rolls. Furthermore, he qualifies for feats that require a minimum number of Fighter levels as though he himself had Fighter levels equal to 1 + his levels in the Disciple of Metal class (so a 3rd level Disciple of Metal could qualify for Weapon Specialization). If the Disciple has actual levels in Fighter, that blasphemer, then these levels stack.

Warriors of the World (Ex): The Disciple's personal magnetism reaches so far and wide that he gains the Leadership feat. If he obtains Leadership without the benefit of this class feature, he attracts a great many more warriors by adding his Disciple of Metal class level to his Leadership score for the sole purpose of determining followers gained. If your GM doesn’t use Leadership in their campaign, throw this paragraph into a fire.

Way of the Fist (Ex): The Disciple's instrument is his own body. He gains the Monk's Unarmed Strike ability, including its scaling increase to unarmed damage. His unarmed damage is based off of his Hit Dice (instead of his levels in Monk). He counts an unarmed strike as his instrument of destruction for the purpose of Disciple abilities, feats and Cacophonies. His unarmed strikes are Metal manifest, and count as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Since a Disciple may only have one instrument of destruction at a time, he who studies the Way of the Fist forfeits the ability to invest manufactured weapons with such glorious power. Finally, he gains a competence bonus to Perform checks equal to 1/2 his Hit Dice. (Ask your GM about obtaining masterwork heavy metal war paint in order to receive a circumstance bonus to Perform checks.)

Brutal Legend (Ex): At 11th level, the Disciple has reached the apex of his crusade. He becomes immune to sonic damage, and gains his choice of one ultimate ability below. Go forth and die.

Caught in a Mosh: Nothing distracts the Disciple from his music. He may take 10 on Perform checks even when caught in the thick of a raging battle atop an erupting volcano while his limbs are torn upon by a hundred world-devouring serpents, or while he is otherwise under duress.

Ram it Down: The Disciple masters the art of ramming “it” down. His bardic performances, Euphonies and Cacophonies influence even those normally immune to mind-affecting abilities. This allows him to, for example, impart morale bonuses from such abilities to his allies. If any such effects would allow a saving throw, an enemy who is immune to mind-affecting abilities gains a +5 bonus to their Will save.

The Art of Ruin: The Disciple invests his chosen weapon with the power to ruin anything. His instrument of destruction ignores 10 points of hardness with its attacks, and always counts as “F%!+ you” for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. (To be clear, “F$$& you” encompasses all alignments and materials, and overcomes everything but DR/- and DR/Epic.)

I enjoy Death to Ability Scores type games! =D

It seems like a really interesting idea! I've yet to play in or GM such a game in later editions of D&D, which is part of why I decided to entertain this.

My inspiration to write this came from a randomly stumbled-upon messageboard post where some gamers were discussing this very concept, and brainstorming ways to make it work, with seemingly no final consensus. It would appear that a full-fledged system/module/conversion to accomplish a No-Ability-Scores-D&D/Pathfinder hasn't yet been done or attempted in earnest. So I figured I'd give it a shot and see how it can turn out.

***

Thanks Larkspire, blahpers and Archive for your observations and feedback. It's good stuff.

I see some opportunities to address specific shortcomings of the Module-Thus-Far. Granting characters the ability to choose more things to add their Bonus to at level increments of 4 (when they'd gain stat points), or designing feats that interact with the module. Other issues seem either inherent to the concept or provoke a trade-off, ie: making options for player characters to be incrementally good at the various modifiers, leads back to the optimization game that people who want to play without Ability Scores are probably already jaded to, and raises the question of why not just keep ability scores to begin with.

For the narrow target audience that would benefit from a system like this, maybe it would be better not to use a Characteristics sub-system at all. It's something that might never be known, because most of those people are probably already playing different systems and editions :P

The Premise
You can now play Pathfinder (or D&D 3.5) without tracking ability scores for your player characters.

How the heck is that supposed to work?

The short version is that instead of tracking six different ability score values, characters now track a single value called their Ability Bonus. This value scales upwards with level. A character adds their Ability Bonus to rolls or values which they would naturally be competent at due to their profession or particular aptitudes (such as a Fighter's attack roll, or a Wizard's saving throw DC). All characters also get certain benefits regardless of class, such as an increase to hit points per level (as somebody with Constitution would have) to streamline their survivability.

This house mechanic utilizes a new Characteristic system in which player characters pick certain Characteristics in order to flesh out the aptitudes they want their characters to be known for. These characteristics serve to distinguish, rather than pigeon-hole. It is now possible to play a Fighter who is neither exceptionally strong nor exceptionally dextrous, but a Fighter can make themselves stand out by choosing a characteristic to represent peculiar strength and receive some benefit for doing so.

Freedom-from-Ability Scores is, obviously, not for everyone. The purpose of this module is to provide a playable alternative to Ability Scores that reduces the mess of book keeping that naturally comes with the current system. It also serves to make concepts viable that previously might not have been due to the pigeon-holing nature of an Ability Score-centric system.

The Mechanics of It
As a would-be heroic adventurer, you are assumed possess enough strength, intellect, etc necessary in order to perform the essential functions of your profession. This is represented by you receiving an Ability Bonus (AB) to various actions and roll types based on what your character would be good at.

Whenever you receive an Ability Bonus to something, that bonus is +3 at 1st level, and it gradually increases as your level grows.
Alternative Progressions: You can adjust the power level of your campaign by tinkering with the Ability Bonus progression below. A couple of alternatives are provided.

Level Ability Bonus (standard)Low-Power Alternative High-Power Alternative
1 +3 +2 +3
2 +3 +2 +4
3 +3 +2 +4
4 +3 +3 +4
5 +4 +3 +5
6 +4 +3 +5
7 +4 +4 +5
8 +4 +4 +6
9 +4 +4 +6
10+ +5 +5 +6

What does my ability bonus apply to?
First off, all player characters (and NPCs designed with PC-level abilities) add their Ability Bonus to hit point rolls. This works retroactively, as a Constitution bonus to hit points would. This is because none of these daring adventurers would survive to higher levels had they only the modest HP pool of a “hero” with “average” Constitution.

Player characters also add a flat +1 bonus to skill points per level since, in regular games, it is common for most player characters to have some Intelligence to round out their skills.

Below are four common Characteristics. When you play a F.F.A.S game, every player character (and heroic NPC) receives one or more of these based on their class:

***

Magical Dabbler: You wield magic as a secondary discipline. Add ½ your Ability Bonus (rounded down) to the following:
** Concentration checks.
** The saving throw DC of any spell you cast.
** Use Magic Device checks, if you have that as a class skill.
Furthermore, use ½ your Ability Bonus to determine what bonus spell slots you gain for a high ability score.
Who has this characteristic? Assassins, Bards, Inquisitors, Paladins, Rangers, and other secondary spell casters. You gain this characteristic if you possess at least one level in such a class. If you have Magical Prowess, its effects override the effects of Magical Dabbler. Optionally, your GM may allow you to switch out the Magical Dabbler and Martial Prowess characteristics for Magical Prowess and Martial Dabbler, represented by your character focusing their training and development on learning how to more effectively channel their spells.

Magical Prowess: You wield magic as a primary discipline. Add your Ability Bonus to the following:
** Concentration checks.
** The saving throw DC of any spell you cast.
** Use Magic Device checks, if you have that as a class skill.
Furthermore, use your Ability Bonus to determine what bonus spell slots you gain for a high ability score.
Who has this characteristic? Clerics, Druids, Sorcerers, Wizards, and other primary spell casters. You gain this characteristic if you possess at least one level in such a class.

Martial Dabbler: You can hold your own in a common fight. Add ½ your Ability Bonus (rounded down) to the following:
** Attack rolls using any weapon you are proficient with. This includes spell rays, natural weapons and unarmed strikes if you have the ability to make one without provoking an attack of opportunity.
** Damage rolls with melee weapons and thrown weapons. Multiply this bonus by 1.5 when applying damage with melee weapons you wield in both hands, or equivalent natural attacks. Reduce your bonus by one-half when using off-hand weapons or equivalent natural attacks. If a class feature would allow you to add your Dexterity modifier to ranged attack damage, use your Ability Bonus for those as well.
** Combat Maneuver checks.
** Combat Maneuver Defense.
** Armor Class, except that you cannot receive a greater Ability Bonus to AC than the Max Dexterity Bonus listed for your equipped armor. This bonus replaces a Dexterity bonus to AC and functions like it for all purposes.
Who has this characteristic? Clerics, Druids, Oracles, and other primary spell casters with a 3/4th Level Base Attack Bonus progression or better. You gain this characteristic if you possess at least one such level in a class. If you have Martial Prowess, its effects override the effects of Martial Dabbler. Optionally, your GM may allow you to switch out the Martial Dabbler and Magical Prowess characteristics for Martial Prowess and Magical Dabbler, represented by your character focusing their training and development on learning how to better defend themselves.

Martial Prowess: You were raised to fight. Add your Ability Bonus to the following:
** Attack rolls using any weapon you are proficient with. This includes spell rays, natural weapons and unarmed strikes if you have the ability to make one without provoking an attack of opportunity.
** Damage rolls with melee weapons and thrown weapons. Multiply this bonus by 1.5 when applying damage with melee weapons you wield in both hands, or equivalent natural attacks. Reduce your bonus by one-half when using off-hand weapons or equivalent natural attacks. If a class feature would allow you to add your Dexterity modifier to ranged attack damage, use your Ability Bonus for those as well.
** Combat Maneuver checks.
** Combat Maneuver Defense.
** Bluff checks made to feint in combat.
** The saving throw DC of non-spell special attacks you initiate, such as Stunning Fist.
** The DC for other opponents' checks to feint against you (only if you're not trained in Sense Motive).

Because of your defensive training, you also add ½ your Ability Bonus (rounded down) to your Armor Class, except that you cannot receive a greater Ability Bonus to AC than the Max Dexterity Bonus listed for your equipped armor. This bonus replaces a Dexterity bonus to AC and functions like it for all purposes.

Who has this characteristic? Fighters, Rogues, Inquisitors, and any class with a 3/4th Base Attack Bonus progression or better that is also lacking in Magical Prowess. You gain this characteristic if you possess at least one level in such a class.

***

Additional Characteristics
Each character begins play with two additional characteristics chosen from the list below. (Of course, there's no reason you couldn't give characters more in your game.) These characteristics allow a character to define themselves as having a particular aptitude such as being highly determined or intelligent. Because characters already receive their Ability Bonus to the important things, this removes the necessity of choosing characteristics that would normally be essentials for their class; it is now possible to play a Fighter who emphasizes wisdom, or a Wizard who emphasizes charisma, without completely undermining one's effectiveness.

Ability Bonuses don't stack. If you have two or more characteristics or class features that allow you to add your full Ability Bonus to something, you instead add your Ability Bonus +1 to that. If two characteristics would allow you to add ½ your Ability Bonus, or if one allows you to add ½ your Ability Bonus and the other allows you to add your full Ability Bonus, you just add your full Ability Bonus instead.

***

Acuity: You possess unusually sharp senses and intuition. Add your Ability Bonus to:
** Initiative rolls.
** Willpower saving throws against illusion effects.
** Craft, Heal, Perception, Sense Motive and Survival checks, and any other check for which instinct and the natural acuity of your senses would be distinctly relevant.

If you don't already have Martial Prowess, then also add your Ability Bonus to ranged attack rolls.
If you do have Martial Prowess, then you instead gain a +1 bonus to ranged attack rolls.

Agility: You possess superior agility and litheness. Add your Ability Bonus to:
Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Fly, and Stealth checks, and any other check for which the ability to contort your body would be distinctly relevant.
Choose one of the following benefits:

If you don't already have Martial Prowess, then you also:
** Add your Ability Bonus to Combat Maneuver Defense.
** Add ½ your Ability Bonus (rounded down) to your Armor Class, except that you cannot receive a greater Ability Bonus to AC than the Max Dexterity Bonus listed for your equipped armor. This bonus replaces a Dexterity bonus to AC and functions like it for all purposes.

If you do have Martial Prowess, then you instead:
** Add your full Ability Bonus to Armor Class (rather than ½ of it).
** Gain a +1 bonus to Combat Maneuver Defense.

Charisma: You possess superior influence and magnetism. Add your Ability Bonus to:
** Willpower saving throws against Charm and Compulsion effects.
** Leadership score, if applicable.
** Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Perform and Use Magic Device checks, and any other check for which your force of personality would be distinctly relevant.
If you are a spell caster that normally uses Charisma for Concentration checks, bonus spells and saving throw DCs, treat your Ability Bonus as 1 point higher for those purposes.

Constitution: You possess superior health and vigor. Add your Ability Bonus to:
** Fortitude saving throws.
** Checks made to hold your breath, perform feats of endurance, or any check for which your stamina and toughness would be distinctly relevant.

You gain one additional hit point per level.

Dexterity: You possess superior dexterity and reaction time. Add your Ability Bonus to:
** Initiative rolls.
** Reflex saving throws.
** Disable Device, Ride, and Sleight of Hand checks, and any other check for which fine motor control would be distinctly relevant. Certain Craft and Perform skills (such as stringed instruments) should also apply, at your GM's discretion.

If you don't already have Martial Prowess, then also add your Ability Bonus to:
** Ranged attack rolls and attack rolls with light melee weapons.
** Damage rolls with light melee weapons. Reduce your bonus by one-half when using off-hand weapons or equivalent natural attacks.
** Combat Maneuver checks.

Intelligence: You possess superior intelligence and cunning. Add your Ability Bonus to:
** Appraise, Craft, Knowledge, Linguistics, and Spellcraft checks, and any check for which the quality of your education or your natural intellect would be distinctly relevant.

You gain 2 additional skill points per level.

If you are a spell caster that normally uses Intelligence for Concentration checks, bonus spells and saving throw DCs, treat your Ability Bonus as 1 point higher for those purposes.

Skill Training: You've picked up a number of tricks and proficiencies throughout your career. Add ½ your Ability Bonus (rounded down) to all skill checks.
You gain 2 additional skill points per level; this stacks with Intelligence.

Spirit: You possess exceptional willpower and determination. Add your Ability Bonus to:
** Fortitude saving throws against magical Death effects.
** Willpower saving throws.
** Any sort of ability check for which no particular training or aptitude would apply, save for sheer bullheadedness and resolve.

If you are a spell caster that normally uses Wisdom for Concentration checks, bonus spells and saving throw DCs, treat your Ability Bonus as 1 point higher for those purposes.

Strength: You possess superior physical strength. Add your Ability Bonus to:
** Climb and Swim checks, or any action for which sheer physical might (separate from combat ability) would be distinctly relevant.

If you don't already have Martial Prowess, then also add your Ability Bonus to:
** Attack rolls with melee weapons.
** Damage rolls with melee weapons and thrown weapons. Multiply this bonus by 1.5 when applying damage with melee weapons you wield in both hands, or equivalent natural attacks. Reduce your bonus by one-half when using off-hand weapons or equivalent natural attacks.
** Combat Maneuver checks.
** Combat Maneuver Defense.

If you do have Martial Prowess, then you instead:
** Gain a +2 bonus to Combat Maneuver checks made as part of a bull rush, drag, grapple, overrun, sunder or trip attempt.
** Gain a +2 bonus to Combat Maneuver Defense against bull rush, drag, grapple, overrun, sunder and trip attempts.
** Increase your Ability Bonus to damage rolls with melee and thrown weapons by 1.

***
Class Feature Adaptations

Here are the starting characteristics for each Core class, as well as how their class features interact with the new system.

Barbarian
Starting Characteristics: Martial Prowess.
Barbarian Rage: Instead of increasing Strength or Constitution, rage grants a +2 Ability Bonus to Fortitude saving throws, hit points per level, melee attack rolls, damage rolls, Climb and Swim checks, and increases already existing Ability Bonuses to these by 2. These values increase by 1 at levels 11 and 20.

Bard
Starting Characteristics: Magical Dabbler, Martial Prowess.
Bardic Performance: Bards use their Ability Bonus whenever a Charisma modifier is mentioned with this class feature. A Bard with the Charisma characteristic gains 2 additional daily rounds of Bardic Performance and adds 1 to the saving throw DCs of his songs.

Cleric
Starting Characteristics: Magical Prowess, Martial Dabbler.
Channel Energy: Clerics use ½ their Ability Bonus whenever a Charisma modifier is mentioned with this class feature. A Cleric with the Charisma characteristic uses their full Ability Bonus for Channel Energy instead.

Druid
Starting Characteristics: Magical Prowess, Martial Dabbler.
Wild Empathy: Druids add ½ their Ability Bonus to Wild Empathy checks. A Druid with the Charisma characteristic uses their full Ability Bonus instead.
Wild Shape: A wild-shaped Druid uses the actual physical ability scores of the form they change into instead of whatever Ability Bonus they would otherwise apply. For example, a Druid wild-shaped into a Bear would use the Bear's Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution modifiers for attack rolls, skill checks, hit points per level, etc, instead of their scaling Ability Bonus (or lack thereof). This is mostly because I'm not quite ready to tackle the can of rot grub that is eliminating ability scores for monsters and animals across the SRD.

Fighter
Starting Characteristics: Martial Prowess.
Extra Characteristic (Optional): GMs may allow single-classed (or mostly single-classed) Fighters to choose one more characteristic from the Additional Characteristics list than other classes.

Monk
Starting Characteristics: Martial Prowess.
AC Bonus: When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk gains a +3 bonus to Armor Class and CMD which increases every 4th level as normal. If he possesses either the Acuity or Spirit characteristics, this bonus starts at +4 instead.

Paladin
Starting Characteristics: Magical Dabbler, Martial Prowess.
Smite Evil: Paladins gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls when smiting evil foes, and a +2 deflection bonus to Armor Class against such foes.
Divine Grace: This grants the Paladin a +2 bonus on all saving throws. A Paladin with the Charisma characteristic gains a +3 bonus instead.
Lay on Hands: 2nd level and higher Paladins can use Lay on Hands twice per day, plus a number of additional times equal to ½ their Paladin level. A Paladin with the Charisma characteristic can use Lay on Hands one additional time per day.
Channel Positive Energy: Paladins use their Ability Bonus whenever a Charisma modifier would be applicable with Channel Positive Energy.

Ranger
Starting Characteristics: Magical Dabbler, Martial Prowess.
Wild Empathy: Rangers add ½ their Ability Bonus to Wild Empathy checks. A Ranger with the Charisma characteristic uses their full Ability Bonus instead.
Hunter's Bond: A Ranger who chooses to form a bond with their companions uses their Ability Bonus in place of a Wisdom modifier to determine the ability's duration.

Rogue
Starting Characteristics: Martial Prowess.
Trap Sense: Trap Sense allows a Rogue to add their full Ability Bonus to Reflex saving throws against traps (instead of merely a +1 bonus every 3rd level). A Rogue with the Dexterity characteristic (who already receives such a bonus on all Reflex saves) receives the normal bonus of an additional +1 every 3rd level.

Sorcerer
Starting Characteristics: Magical Prowess.
Bloodline Powers: Sorcerers use their Ability Bonus whenever a Charisma modifier is mentioned with any Bloodline Power.

Wizard
Starting Characteristics: Magical Prowess.
Arcane School: Wizards use their Ability Bonus whenever an Intelligence modifier is mentioned with any Arcane School ability or feature.

***

Adapting this Module to other Classes

Ability Scores and Class Features: When deciding what sort of bonus to use when a class feature refers to an Ability Score, consider the following:

- Is having a high modifier with the feature important to the class functionality?
- Is the ability modifier used one that a character of that class would probably have a lot of investment in?

If the answer to both of those questions is 'Yes', it's probably best to use the character's full Ability Bonus with that class feature.

If the answer is 'No' to both, then use ½ the Ability Bonus.
Some classes have features that refer to an Ability Score but don't need to scale, either because they already do naturally (such as the monk's Wisdom bonus to AC) or because they are useful even without any scaling (such as Divine Grace). It is acceptable to use static bonuses such as +2 or +3 for these, especially if this avoids you having to reconcile multiple characteristics or features adding the same thing.

************

Well, that's all I have for right now.

This module is by no means comprehensive, and by its nature, it couldn't be. But I hope there's enough here for people who are interested in the concept to extrapolate how to handle the rest. Enjoy.

BAND/SONG CREDITS

Acid Bath (Acid Bath)
Amon Amarth (Death in Fire, Tattered Flags & Bloodied Banners)
Anthrax (Caught in a Mosh)
Black Sabbath (Children of the Grave, Iron Man)
Blind Guardian (Into the Storm)
Death (1000 Eyes)
Dragonforce (Operation Ground & Pound, Through the Fire & Flames)
Eluveitie (Primordial Breath)
Ensiferum (Deathbringer from the Sky, Guardians of Fate)
Five Finger Death Punch (Bulletproof, Way of the Fist)
Iron Maiden (Heaven Can Wait, Sea of Madness)
Judas Priest (Defenders of the Faith, One Shot at Glory, Ram it Down)
Kreator (Fatal Energy, Radical Resistance)
Lamb of God (The Art of Ruin)
Manowar (Fight Until We Die, Louder than Hell, The Gods Made Heavy Metal, The Triumph of Steel, Warriors of the World)
Megadeth (Prince of Darkness, Symphony of Destruction)
Metal Church (Bulletproof)
Metallica (Creeping Death, Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, Some Kind of Monster)
Motley Crue (Shout at the Devil)
Nightwish (Sacrament of Wilderness)
NRG (Instruments of Destruction)
Opeth (The Grand Conjuration)
Pantera (Strength Beyond Strength)
Rhapsody of Fire (Rage of the Winter, Holy Thunderforce)
Rob Zombie (Superbeast)
Sepultura (Refuse, Resist)
Slayer (Angel of Death, Disciple)

I just now realized that you can't edit posts after the first hour. Oops. So much for ease-of-updates..... But, a distinct website is currently underway where I will soon be able to host the Disciple of Metal and keep it updated and current in response to feedback and observations.

Thanks for pointing out the Skald class. I had seen it before but the thought of incorporating it into the Disciple had escaped me. I definitely want a Skald / Disciple of Metal to be playable, and am adding a paragraph to the effect of:

**
Becoming a Heavy Metal Skald: Vikings are well-received by the Metal Gods, as are other performers who aspire toward their traditions of storytelling and facemauling. A Skald who gains levels in Disciple of Metal improves his Raging Song abilities and learns new songs in the same manner that a Bard would progress Bardic Performance. He does not gain new Rage Powers or progress other Skald class features through his levels in Disciple of Metal. This prestige class functions otherwise identically, so that you can replace all references of Inspired Courage with Inspired Rage and Bardic Performance with Raging Song in order to play a Skald / Disciple of Metal.
**

Also, changing the prerequisite to read:
"Special: Bardic performance or equivalent class feature (such as Raging Song)"

Because you know there's gonna be another core class or three out there, somewhere, that also offers an alternative Bard, which we don't want to necessarily exclude.

So far as the other class archetypes go... well, some of them speak for themselves. The Deadly Courtesan wouldn't qualify because they lack spells and wouldn't benefit as much from the class because they don't technically have Inspire Courage, etc. And that's OK, because the Disciple of Metal isn't really meant for them anyhow.

re: Geisha rocking out during a tea ceremony. You know, I'm gonna... stay out of that one and say that's between you and your GM :) I would personally allow it and find it suitable, because the nature of the Disciple class is already to embrace such over-the-top shenanigans, so why the hell not.

...And the music played on, each pull of the string fostering harmonies that drove the warriors to murderous frenzy. Those who dared stand against them fell to a man; their their blood seeped into the hillside and fed the hungry earth.

“Metal.”

A note on balance and design
This class is balanced for moderately advanced groups where spellcasters are busy nearly wrecking reality and people who aren't spellcasters are playing with some degree of optimization. The Disciple of Metal is quite potent, certainly strong enough to put most single-class Bards and Fighters to shame but then, that's not usually considered to be a travesty. The Disciple of Metal is designed to be a formidable but fair contender in parties that include primary spellcasters and capable fighting-casters.

Disciple of Metal
Aliases: Badass Bard, Battle Bard, Heavy Metal Bard, Iron Man (Maiden), Brother (Sister) of Metal

Role: Disciples are not like other pansy mewling bards. A Disciple of Metal finds his home on the frontline, where fresh blood is spilt and heads are split atwine. His music and his weapon are one and the same.

Alignment: Disciples inherently represent the annihilation of axioms and boundaries. Though oft worshippers of Metal gods, Disciples forge their own path, write their own rules, and don't take shit from anyone. Thus, it is especially common for Disciples of Metal to be Chaotic aligned, especially Chaotic Badass.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements
To prove themselves worthy of bloody baptism into the ranks of Metal, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any chaotic, unless the non-chaotic character is sufficiently brutal and awesome (this is between you and the DM).

Feats: Power Attack, Toughness.

Skills: Perform (anything that can be called Metal) 5 ranks.

Spells: Ability to cast 2nd level arcane spells.

Special: Bardic performance, inspire courage +2

Class Skills

The Disciple of Metal's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: Disciple of Metal
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +0 The Gods Made Heavy Metal, Instruments of Destruction, Euphony
2 +2 +3 +0 +0 Cacophony, +1 spell caster level
3 +3 +3 +1 +1 Disciple
4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Euphony, +1 spell caster level
5 +5 +4 +1 +1 Cacophony
6 +6 +5 +2 +2 Disciple, +1 spell caster level
7 +7 +5 +2 +2 Euphony
8 +8 +6 +2 +2 Cacophony, +1 spell caster level
9 +9 +6 +3 +3 Disciple
10 +10 +7 +3 +3 Cacophony, +1 spell caster level
11 +11 +7 +3 +3 Brutal Legend

The Gods Made Heavy Metal (Ex): …and they saw that it was good. Henceforth, all of the Disciple’s bardic magic is considered, for all intents and purposes, divine magic. He gains proficiency in medium and heavy armor. Since his magic is divine now, even the heaviest of metal apparel won't interfere with his spell casting or abilities. The Disciple becomes so inured to the impossibly loud noises demanded by his vocation that he gains 10 points of sonic resistance and automatically succeeds on Fortitude saves against deafness.

The Disciple adds his class levels in Disciple of Metal to his Bard levels for the purpose of determining daily uses of Bardic Performance, their effectiveness and action type, and what performances are available to him. He does not gain or improve other Bard abilities, such as Bardic Knowledge, Jack of All Trades or Versatile Performance.

Instruments of Destruction (Ex): The Disciple’s weapon… becomes his instrument! By making a sacrifice of 2500 gp to the Metal Gods and ritualistically headbanging for eight hours, he may turn any magical melee weapon into a masterwork instrument; it’s still a goddamn weapon. An axe, for example, may double up as a guitar. As a result of his Metal training, he has no difficulty jamming out in the thick of battle whilst surrounded by ravenous foes (although the restrictions for what actions can be taken while maintaining bardic performance still apply). This instrument grants the Disciple (and only the Disciple) a competence bonus to Perform checks equal to 1/2 his Hit Dice, in addition to the +2 circumstance bonus for being masterwork. A Disciple can only have one such weapon glorified at a time.

Spellcasting: At every even-numbered level in Disciple of Metal, that savage champion of steel adds one to his Bard level for spell casting purposes, granting him more spells per day, spells known, and increasing his caster level with such spells.

Euphony (Su): At levels 1, 4, and 7, the Disciple selects one Euphony. Euphonies further enhance the empowering effects of bardic music and are magnificent for mortal ears to behold. Whenever the Disciple of Metal uses Inspire Courage, Inspire Greatness or Inspire Heroics, his otherwise inferior bardic music becomes Metal by taking on the aspect of a chosen Euphony. He can invoke a known Euphony at will as part of the same action used to create bardic music, and the effects end when the bardic music ends. Only one Euphony may be in effect at any given time (unless multiple Disciples are present, in which case the universe collapses under the sheer weight of the epic splendor to follow). These Euphonies have additional effects when used in conjunction with more potent performances, as listed.

Bulletproof: Those affected gain DR 5/magic against attacks from firearms. The far-reaching potency of Metal means that even worlds that have yet to invent gunpowder have heard of this euphony; it just doesn't do anything useful there.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +5 deflection bonus to Armor Class against firearms.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they also gain DR 5/- against firearms.

Fight Until We Die: Those affected gain the ability to fight until victory or death, gaining a +8 morale bonus to saving throws against fear and acting as though they had the Diehard feat.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +2 bonus to their Constitution score.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, plus: death only comes to the affected ally when he reaches a negative HP value equal to twice his (new) Constitution score. Because this tenacity is brought about only by the power of Metal, a character who is into the negatives for their Constitution score or below when this Euphony ceases affecting them will immediately die.

Guardians of Fate: Those affected gain the protection of cosmic forces, resulting in a +1 luck bonus to Armor Class.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +1 luck bonus to saving throws.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they gain 1 temporary hero point, as per the Heroic Fortune spell; this effect can't trigger more than once per character per day, even if the Disciple ends his song and starts anew.

Heaven Can Wait: Those affected gain the ability to defy the grave, resulting in a +3 bonus to Will saving throws against channeled negative energy, Fortitude saving throws against Necromancy spells, and the supernatural abilities of the undead (such as energy drain).
Inspire Greatness: They also gain the benefits of Death Ward, making them immune to many such effects.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness and their saving throw bonuses granted by this Euphony are +5 instead.

Into the Storm: Those affected gain a +10' enhancement bonus to their speed and a +4 bonus to initiative rolls. If an affected ally has already rolled initiative for the encounter, this bonus results in a new total for them which takes effect on the following round.
Inspire Greatness: Their movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. They can even move through the space of creatures larger than they are, as long as they don't end their movement in a space occupied by a creature.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and the aforementioned numerical bonuses are doubled (+20' bonus to speed, +4 bonus to initiative rolls).

One Shot At Glory: Those affected gain a +4 morale bonus to attack rolls made to confirm critical hits, allowing them to reap bloodshed and fame on the battlefield. On a successful critical hit, their attack deals an additional 1d6 damage per critical multiplier (2d6 for a x2 multiplier, 3d6 for a x3 multiplier, etc).
Inspire Greatness: They also gain the ability to make a final strike if brought to the brink of oblivion. If an affected ally is dropped to 0 HP, they may make a melee attack against a foe they threaten as an immediate action.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they also gain the benefits of Improved Critical with any weapon they wield.

Refuse, Resist: Those affected become resistant to magical influences upon the mind, gaining a +3 bonus to saving throws against mind-affecting spells or abilities.
Inspire Greatness: When you start playing this Euphony, affected allies may also make an immediate saving throw against any such influences currently upon them.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness and their saving throw bonuses granted by this Euphony are +5 instead.

Sacrament of Wilderness: Those affected resist binding ties and constricting chains, gaining a +3 bonus to saving throws and CMB checks against effects that impede movement, such as web, paralysis and slow. They also gain a +3 bonus to Combat Maneuver Defense against grappling attempts.
Inspire Greatness: The above bonuses are increased to +5.
Inspire Heroics: They move and act as though under the influence of a Freedom with Movement spell, effectively telling many such impediments to f%@@ off.

Strength Beyond Strength: Those affected gain a +2 bonus to Combat Maneuver checks, Combat Maneuver Defense, Strength checks and Strength-based skill checks.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +2 morale bonus to their actual Strength score.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, except that they gain a +4 morale bonus to their Strength score instead of +2.

Tattered Flags and Bloody Banners: Those affected gain increased fervor as death approaches, granting them a +2 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls while reduced to half HP or less.
Inspire Greatness: A character whose hit points are 0 or less while this Euphony affects them gains 1 temporary hero point, as per the Heroic Fortune spell; this effect can't trigger more than once per character per day, even if the Disciple ends his song and starts anew.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they actually gain a +4 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls while reduced to half HP or less.

The Grand Conjuration: Those affected gain a +2 bonus to Concentration checks and add 1 to the saving throw DCs of their spells.
Inspire Greatness: They also gain a +2 bonus to checks made to defeat spell resistance.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and they receive +1 caster level, improving the potency of their spells and allowing them to further demolish the fabric of the cosmos.

Through the Fire and Flames: Those affected gain resistance 10 against a single energy type (specified upon activation between acid, cold, fire, electricity or sonic), allowing them to carry on. The Disciple grants 15 points of resistance at 10th level and 20 points at 20th level.
Inspire Greatness: They gain double the listed amounts of resistance, up to 40 points at 20th level.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and the resistance applies against all available energy types instead of one. Yaaaaaaah!

Cacophony (Su): At levels 2, 5, 8 and 10, the Disciple masters a Cacophony from the list below. Cacophonies wreak destructive havoc upon the battlefield and are generally unpleasant for non-Disciples to listen to. In order to successfully invoke the Metal Gods' power thusly, the Disciple must expend the specified number of daily rounds for bardic performance and make a successful Perform check; if he fails his check, he will have wasted his daily music and his enemies will mock him ‘til death (their death, not his).

Most Cacophonies duplicate existing spells. As the Disciple grows in level, he usually gains the ability to invoke a wider array of spells through his Cacophonies. For example, Children of the Grave initially grants access to Animate Dead, but a 12 Hit Die Disciple may also use it for Create Undead, and so forth. When the Disciple has a choice of multiple spells to invoke in a Cacophony, he chooses which one to use each time he activates the ability and prior to rolling his Perform check. All spells duplicated through the use of a Cacophony have a save DC of 10 + the spell level + the Disciple’s Charisma modifier, and use the Disciple’s Hit Dice in place of caster level for all purposes.

1000 Eyes: The Disciple's foes find themselves in the pupil of a thousand eyes and all of their pathetic falsehoods are penetrated. This cacophony duplicates spells that reveal the unseen.
7th Level (DC 25, 1 rd): See Invisibility
9th Level (DC 30, 1 rd): Invisibility Purge
13th Level (DC 35, 4 rds): True Seeing

Acid Bath: The Disciple bathes his environs in seething acid.
7th Level (DC 30, 2 rds): Acid Pit
9th Level (DC 35, 4 rds): Acidic Spray
13th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Caustic Eruption

Children of the Grave: The Disciple's music awakens the dead to do his bidding.
7th Level (DC 30, 2 rds): Animate Dead
11th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Create Undead
15th Level (DC 40, 5 rds): Create Greater Undead

Creeping Death: The Disciple draws upon the music of the chosen one, summoning insects as per the spell below.
7th Level (DC 20, 1 rds): Summon Swarm
9th Level (DC 30, 3 rds): Insect Plague
13th Level (DC 35, 5 rds): Creeping Doom

Death in Fire: The Disciple summons a storm of lethal flames. Only death remains.
7th Level (DC 30, 2 rds): Volcanic Storm
11th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Fire Snake
15th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Fire Storm

Fatal Energy: The Disciple rends the life force of one who dares to oppose him.
7th Level (DC 30, 3 rds): Enervation
9th Level (DC 30, 2 rds): Slay Living
13th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Finger of Death

Holy Thunderforce (DC 35, 3 rds): The Disciple imbues his instrument of destruction with holy thunderforce: on the weapon's next successful melee attack, it invokes a vertical column of thunderforce centered the target that functions as a Flame Strike spell except that half of the damage is electric (instead of fire), and the other half of it is divine awesomeness. The Disciple is immune to his own damage from this Cacophony, and the damage it deals is in addition to the regular effects of the attack. The imbue lasts for 1 minute per caster level or until discharged.

Master of Puppets: The Disciple twists the mind and pulls the strings of a single poor bastard, as per the potent enchantment below. There are two important differences between this cacophony and casting the spell. First, the duration is reduced to eighty-six rounds (8 minutes, 36 seconds). Once under the effect, victims suffer a -2 penalty on saving throws against it triggered by being forced to act against their nature.
7th Level (DC 25, 3 rds): Dominate Person
15th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Dominate Monster

Operation Ground & Pound: The Disciple forces the environs to rock with a galvanizing solo.
7th Level (DC 25, 1 rd): Enlarged Raging Rubble
11th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Animate Objects
15th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Irresistible Dance

Primordial Breath: Drawing from the magic of forces ancient and terrible, the Disciple emulates one of the spells below to produce a battle-changing mist of ages.
7th Level (DC 25, 2 rds): Stinking Cloud
9th Level (DC 30, 3 rds): Cloudkill
15th Level (DC 40, 5 rds): Incendiary Cloud

Prince of Darkness: The Disciple summons forth darkness that is more deadly than man.
7th Level (DC 30, 1 rd): Deeper Darkness
9th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Black Tentacles
13th Level (DC 40, 5 rds): Hungry Darkness

Rage of the Winter: The Disciple channels winter's vengeance.
7th Level (DC 30, 2 rds): Ice Storm
11th Level (DC 35, 4 rds): Maximized Ice Spears
15th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Maximized Cone of Cold

Ride the Lightning: Death is in the air when the Disciple invokes this Cacophony, electrocuting foes with a spell below.
7th Level (DC 30, 1 rd): Lightning Bolt
11th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Chain Lightning
15th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Storm Bolts

Sea of Madness (DC 30, 2 rds): The Disciple conjures a bewildering song that ravages the mind.
7th Level (DC 25, 1 rd): Confusion
11th Level (DC 30, 2 rds): Widened Confusion
15th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Song of Discord (heightened to 8th level)

Shout at the Devil: The Disciple casts out unnatural and unwanted powers.
7th Level (DC 25, 2 rds): Dismissal
11th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Undeath to Death
15th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Banishment (heightened to 8th level)

Some Kind of Monster (DC 25, 3 rds): The sheer brutality of the Disciple of Metal’s playing becomes so monstrous that he attracts the attention of extraplanar entities bent on total destruction. This Cacophony invokes Summon Monster of the highest level that a Wizard of the Disciple's caster level could cast, e.g Summon Monster VII for a 13th level Disciple. The Disciple of Metal can only summon “monsters” of non-good alignment; once summoned, such creatures proceed to attack anything in sight that’s nearby or possibly perceived as threatening. It will not attack Disciples of Metal, but he cannot control it and it will probably devour his allies at some point.

Superbeast (DC 35, 3 rds): Truly the one who the enemy wants, the Disciple transforms as per the aptly named Transformation spell. While changed into the Superbeast, the Disciple retains his ability to activate bardic class abilities, Euphonies and Cacophonies even though he can no longer cast spells. To even select this song, the Disciple of Metal must first prove himself to the Metal Gods by possessing eight levels in this class.

Symphony of Destruction: The Disciple renders destruction through the force of punishing sound, as the earth starts to rumble....
7th Level (DC 25, 1 rd): Enlarged Shatter (heightened to 4th level)
13th Level (DC 30, 2 rds): Sympathetic Vibration
15th Level (DC 35, 4 rds): Earthquake
17th Level (DC 40, 6 rds): Pied Piping

Disciple: At levels 3, 6, and 9, the Disciple grows closer to becoming the epiphany of all things Metal. He chooses an aspect of Metal from the list below.

Angel of Death (Su): The Disciple is a monarch to the kingdom of the dead, wielding true necromancy in the name of Metal. When using a Cacophony to invoke Animate Dead, the Disciple is considered to be four levels higher when determining the number of Hit Dice he animates. By making a Perform check (DC 25), the Disciple can invoke Command Undead as a spell-like ability; there is no limit to how often he may do this. The Disciple must possess the Children of the Grave Cacophony before he may select this ability.

Deathbringer from the Sky (Ex): The Disciple becomes no mere man. Monstrous and wicked is he, such that he gains a +5 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks but suffers a -5 circumstance penalty to Diplomacy checks. He gains a climb speed of 30' and a +10 competence bonus to Jump checks. At 10 Hit Dice, the Disciple gains fly speed equal to his base speed. These changes cannot be reversed by any means short of mutilating the Disciple and remaking his form anew.

Defender of the Faith (Su): The Disciple becomes a champion crusader… of Metal. He gains a +2 sacred bonus to attack rolls against the enemies of Metal, and his attacks deal an additional 2d6 damage against them. At 12 Hit Dice, this bonus to attack damage increases to 4d6. (If your DM isn’t up to the nebulous task of determining what constitutes an enemy of Metal, have the bonuses apply to other Bards, Lawful-aligned entities, and creatures of the Fey subtype.)

Iron Man (Su): The Disciple's own body becomes like Metal. Ordinary weapons glance off of him as though they were manufactured by Mattel. He gains DR/magic equal to 5 per Disciple ability he possesses, and a +1 natural bonus to AC per 3 Hit Die (max +5).

Louder than Hell (Su): By means of sundering the veil between worlds and turning it up to eleven, the Disciple of Metal makes his sonic effects louder than the incessant screams of tortured, tormented souls. He treats his Hit Dice and caster level as 4 higher for the purpose of determining the range of Bard spells and Cacophonies. Whenever he deals energy damage with a Bard spell or Cacophony, he ignores 5 points of energy resistance per Disciple ability he possesses.

Radical Resistance (Ex): So let it be written that the Disciple of Metal was a fearless, indomitable songster of gratuitous violence and mayhem. Once per day, the Disciple of Metal may reroll a failed saving throw against any mind-affecting effect. Furthermore, he adds his Charisma modifier to Will saves instead of his Wisdom modifier.

The Triumph of Steel (Ex): The Disciple spurns the insufferable titles of 'hybrid' and 'support' and hones his martial prowess to adamantium heights. When fighting with his instrument of destruction, he gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls and a +2 bonus to damage rolls. Furthermore, he qualifies for feats that require a minimum number of Fighter levels as though he himself had Fighter levels equal to 1 + his levels in the Disciple of Metal class (so a 3rd level Disciple of Metal could qualify for Weapon Specialization). If the Disciple has actual levels in Fighter, that blasphemer, then these levels stack.

Warriors of the World (Ex): The Disciple's personal magnetism reaches so far and wide that he gains the Leadership feat. If he obtains Leadership without the benefit of this class feature, he attracts a great many more warriors by adding his Disciple of Metal class level to his Leadership score for the sole purpose of determining followers gained.

Way of the Fist (Ex): The Disciple's instrument is his own body. He gains the Monk's Unarmed Strike ability, including its scaling increase to unarmed damage. His unarmed damage is based off of his Hit Dice (instead of his levels in Monk). He counts an unarmed strike as his instrument of destruction for the purpose of Disciple abilities, feats and Cacophonies. His unarmed strikes are Metal manifest, and count as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Since a Disciple may only have one instrument of destruction at a time, he who studies the Way of the Fist forfeits the ability to invest manufactured weapons with such glorious power. Finally, he gains a competence bonus to Perform checks equal to 1/2 his Hit Dice. (Ask your GM about obtaining masterwork heavy metal war paint in order to receive a circumstance bonus to Perform checks.)

Brutal Legend (Ex): At 11th level, the Disciple has reached the apex of his crusade. He becomes immune to sonic damage, and gains his choice of one ultimate ability below. Go forth and die.

Caught in a Mosh: Nothing distracts the Disciple from his music. He may take 10 on Perform checks even when caught in the thick of a raging battle atop an erupting volcano while his limbs are torn upon by a hundred world-devouring serpents, or while he is otherwise under duress.

Ram it Down: The Disciple masters the art of ramming “it” down. His bardic performances, Euphonies and Caocphonies influence even those normally immune to mind-affecting abilities. This allows him to, for example, impart morale bonuses from such abilities to his allies. If one such effect would allow a saving throw, an enemy who is immune to mind-affecting gains a +5 bonus to their Will save.

The Art of Ruin: The Disciple invests his chosen weapon with the power to ruin anything. His instrument of destruction ignores 10 points of hardness with its attacks, and always counts as “F%&! you” for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. (To be clear, “F*#& you” encompasses all alignments and materials, and overcomes everything but DR/- and DR/Epic.)

*****

*****

Background of the Disciple
The Disciple of Metal was originally a homebrew class for D&D 3.5 that I released on the Wizards forums about seven years ago. Recently I've given it a complete overhaul using the Pathfinder ruleset. I launched a Kickstarter to fund some professional cover art so I could properly publish the class along with some supplemental material, but the project didn't reach its goal. Here is the class in full, that the realms of gaming may find use in it and more-likely-than-not even improve upon it with their feedback, comments and experiences.

If you are interested in the materials I have for “How to convert this remake back to 3.5” or being kept in the loop for future projects combining D&D and Heavy Metal, please feel free to email me at dungeonsandmetal@gmail.com. If you decide to use this class, I would love to hear about your experiences with it good or bad. Hope you enjoy the class and rock on!

That's awesome. It's refreshing to see there are others who appreciate a healthy dose of Rock/Metal in their adventuring.

O-K. The Kickstarter for this project is UP. Pardon the present lack of an embedded video, I've outsourced that to YouTube for the time being:

Rock on.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461682152/disciple-of-metal

Several years ago I posted a homebrew prestige class to the Wizards D&D 3.5 Forums with the goal of making the ultimate Heavy Metal, Combat-Worthy Bard. What began as a curiosity quickly grew into a fervent project of its own. An overview of the class can be described as follows:

* Focuses on making the Bard into a BAMF fighting machine, rather than a pansy 5th wheel spouting knowledge and paltry buffs. The first few levels alone practically redefine the entire concept of what once-was-a-mere-Bard.
* One of their signature features is that they get to turn a magical weapon into their musical instrument, so they are literally killing people with their guitar-Axe. (Sort of like Pentakill Mordekaiser from League of Legends, come to think of it.)
* To balance it out, the class loses 1/2 of its caster progression, but it's totally worth it. As well as armor proficiency and significantly increased fighting ability, they gain scaling class abilities that empower their bardic music and allow them to use the power of Metal to create spell-like effects: storms of fire, the ruin of castles, animating the dead, and more.
* You get to pick almost all of the class features from large lists, so two different Disciples can be built focusing on different themes. The final version has about 40 abilities to pick from.
* Every ability is named after a Heavy Metal song. The titles range from 80s Classics to modern Heavy Metal to well-known songs in the Power or Death Metal genres, and so forth.

I have updated and revived the Disciple of Metal so that it is more awesome than before, and plan to release it as a roughly 20-page PDF for sale at about 1-2 dollars a copy. Doing this will first require me to launch a Kickstarter project for roughly a few hundred dollars so I can give fair pay to a talented artist to draw some brutal, badass cover art for it.

So, here is a preview/abridged version of the class:

* * * * *

Disciple of Metal
Aliases: Badass Bard, Battle Bard, Heavy Metal Bard, Iron Man (Maiden), Brother (Sister) of Metal

Role: Disciples are not like other pansy mewling bards. A Disciple of Metal finds his home on the frontline, where fresh blood is spilt and heads are split atwine. His music and his weapon are one and the same.

Alignment: Disciples inherently represent the annihilation of axioms and boundaries. Though oft worshippers of Metal gods, Disciples forge their own path, write their own rules, and don't take shit from anyone. Thus, it is especially common for Disciples of Metal to be Chaotic aligned, especially Chaotic Badass.

Requirements
To prove themselves worthy of bloody baptism into the ranks of Metal, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any chaotic, unless the non-chaotic character is sufficiently brutal and awesome (this is between you and the DM).

Feats: Power Attack, Toughness.

Skills: Perform (anything that can be called Metal) 5 ranks.

Spells: Ability to cast 2nd level arcane spells.

Special: Bardic performance, inspire courage +2

BAB Fort Ref Will Special
+1 +2 +0 +0 The Gods Made Heavy Metal, Instruments of Destruction, Disciple
+2 +3 +0 +0 Euphony, +1 caster level
+3 +3 +1 +1 Cacophony
+4 +4 +1 +1 Euphony, +1 caster level
+5 +4 +1 +1 Disciple
+6 +5 +2 +2 Cacophony, +1 caster level
+7 +5 +2 +2 Euphony
+8 +6 +2 +2 Cacophony, +1 caster level
+9 +6 +3 +3 Disciple
+10 +7 +3 +3 Brutal Legend, +1 caster level

The Gods Made Heavy Metal (Ex): … and they saw that it was good. Henceforth, all of the Disciple’s bardic magic is considered, for all intents and purposes, divine magic. He gains proficiency in medium and heavy armor. Since his magic is divine now, even the heaviest of metal apparel won't interfere with his spellcasting or abilities. The Disciple becomes so inured to the impossibly loud noises demanded by his vocation that he gains 10 points of sonic resistance and automatically succeeds on Fortitude saves against deafness.

The Disciple adds his class levels in Disciple of Metal to his Bard levels for the purpose of determining daily uses of bardic performance, their effectiveness and what performances are available to him.

Instruments of Destruction (Ex): The Disciple’s weapon… becomes his instrument! By making a sacrifice of 2500 gp to the Metal Gods and ritualistically headbanging for eight hours, he may turn any magical melee weapon into a masterwork instrument; it’s still a goddamn weapon. An axe, for example, may double up as a guitar. As a result of his Metal training, he has no difficulty jamming out in the thick of battle whilst surrounded by ravenous foes (although the restrictions for what actions can be taken while maintaining bardic performance still apply). This instrument grants the Disciple (and only the Disciple) a competence bonus to Perform checks equal to 1/2 his hit dice, in addition to the +2 circumstance bonus for being masterwork. A Disciple can only have one such weapon glorified at a time.

Disciple: At levels 1, 5, and 9, the Disciple grows closer to becoming the epiphany of all things Metal. He chooses an aspect of Metal from the list below.

Deathbringer from the Sky (Ex): The Disciple becomes no mere man. Monstrous and wicked is he, such that he gains a +5 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks but suffers a -5 circumstance penalty to Diplomacy checks. He gains a climb speed of 30' and a +10 competence bonus to Jump checks. At 10 hit dice, the Disciple gains fly speed equal to his base speed. These changes cannot be reversed by any means short of mutilating the Disciple and remaking his form anew.

Defender of the Faith (Su): The Disciple becomes a champion crusader… of Metal. He gains a +2 sacred bonus to attack rolls against the enemies of Metal, and his attacks deal an additional 2d6 damage against them. (If your DM isn’t up to the nebulous task of determining what constitutes an enemy of Metal, have the bonuses apply to other Bards, Lawful-aligned entities, and creatures of the Fey subtype.) This applies only ot those who fight

Louder than Hell (Su): By means of sundering the veil between worlds and turning it up to eleven, the Disciple of Metal makes his sonic effects louder than the incessant screams of tortured, tormented souls. He treats his hit dice and caster level each as 4 higher for the purpose of determining the range of Bard spells and Cacophonies. Whenever he deals energy damage with a Bard spell or Cacophony, he increases that amount by +1 per die.

Warriors of the World (Ex): The Disciple's personal magnetism reaches so far and wide that he gains the Leadership feat. If he obtains Leadership without the benefit of this class feature, he attracts a great many more warriors by adding his Disciple of Metal class level to his Leadership score for the sole purpose of determining followers gained.

************* and many more choices. ****

Spellcasting: At every even-numbered level in Disciple of Metal, he adds one to his Bard level for spellcasting purposes, granting him new and more powerful spells.

Euphony (Su): At levels 2, 4, and 7, the Disciple selects a Euphony. Euphonies enhance the empowering effects of bardic music and are magnificent for mortal ears to behold. Whenever the Disciple of Metal uses Inspire Courage, Inspire Greatness or Inspire Heroics, his otherwise inferior bardic music becomes Metal by taking on the aspect of a chosen Euphony. He can invoke a known Euphony at will as part of the same action used to create bardic music, and the effects end when the bardic music ends. Only one Euphony may be in effect at any given time (unless multiple Disciples are present, in which case the universe collapses under the sheer weight of the epic splendor to follow). These Euphonies have additional effects when used in conjunction with more potent performances, as listed.

Heaven Can Wait: Those affected gain the ability to defy the grave, resulting in a +4 morale bonus to Will saving throws against channeled negative energy, Fortitude saving throws against Necromancy spells, and the supernatural abilities of the undead (such as energy drain).
Inspire Greatness: They also gain the benefits of Death Ward, making them immune to many such effects.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, except that all saving throw bonuses granted by this Euphony are +8 instead.

Refuse, Resist: Those affected become resistant to magical influences upon the mind, gaining a +3 bonus to saving throws against mind-affecting spells or abilities.
Inspire Greatness: The bonuses are increased to +5.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness and they may immediately make a saving throw against any such influences currently upon them.

Through the Fire and Flames: Those affected gain resistance 10 against a single energy type (specified upon activation between acid, cold, fire, electricity or sonic), allowing them to carry on. The Disciple grants 15 points of resistance at 10th level and 20 points at 20th level. The Disciple may wish to rename this ability from time to time to more appropriately match its function, e.g, acidofilia, ride the lightning, under the ice....
Inspire Greatness: They gain double the listed amounts of resistance, up to 40 points at 20th level.
Inspire Heroics: As Inspire Greatness, and the resistance applies against all available energy types instead of one. Yaaaaaaah!

******* ... and many more. ***

Cacophony (Su): At levels 3, 6, and 8, the Disciple selects a Cacophony. Cacophonies wreak destructive havoc upon the battlefield and are generally unpleasant for non-Disciples to listen to. In order to successfully invoke the Metal Gods' power thusly, the Disciple must expend the specified number of daily rounds for bardic performance and make a successful Perform check; if he fails his check, he will have wasted his daily music and his enemies will mock him ‘til death (their death, not his).

Most of these Cacophonies duplicate existing spells, and the manner of spell grows with the Disciple's level. Thus, a single Cacophony might grant him the power to invoke multiple related spells or versions of the same spell with varying DCs and uses of music; in such instances, the Disciple chooses which spell to invoke each time he activates the ability and prior to rolling his Perform check. All spells duplicated through the use of a Cacophony have a save DC of 10 + the spell level + the Disciple’s Charisma modifier, and use the Disciple’s hit die in place of caster level for all purposes.

Children of the Grave: The Disciple's music awakens the dead to do his bidding, as per the spell below.
8th Level (DC 30, 1 rd): Animate Dead
12th Level (DC 35, 3 rds): Create Undead
16th Level (DC 40, 5 rds): Create Greater Undead

Holy Thunderforce (DC 25, 3 rds): The Disciple imbues his instrument of destruction with holy thunderforce: on the weapon's next successful attack, it deals an additional 1d6 damage per character level of the Disciple (max 20d6) to the initial target and all other hapless souls within 10' of them (excluding the attacker); half of this damage is electric, and half of it is divine awesomeness. A Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ Disciple’s hit dice + Charisma modifier) halves this damage. The imbue lasts for 1 minute per caster level or until discharged.

Master of Puppets: The Disciple twists the mind and pulls the strings of a single poor bastard, as per the potent enchantment below. There are two important differences between this cacophony and casting the spell. First, the duration is reduced to eighty-six rounds (8 minutes, 36 seconds). Once under the effect, victims suffer a -2 penalty on saving throws against it triggered by being forced to act against their nature.
8th Level (DC 25, 3 rds): Dominate Person
16th Level (DC 45, 6 rds): Dominate Monster

Some Kind of Monster (DC 25, 3 rds): The sheer brutality of the Disciple of Metal’s playing becomes so monstrous that he attracts the attention of extraplanar entities bent on total destruction. This cacophony invokes Summon Monster of the highest level that a Sorcerer of the Disciple's caster level could cast, e.g Summon Monster VII for a 14th level Disciple. The Disciple of Metal can only summon “monsters” of non-good alignment; once summoned, such creatures proceed to attack anything in sight that’s nearby or possibly perceived as threatening. It will not attack Disciples of Metal, but he cannot control it and it will probably devour his allies at some point.

Symphony of Destruction (DC 25, 1 rd): The Disciple deals 1d6 sonic damage per two caster levels to enemies and unattended objects within 100' from him, plus 10' per caster level. Since nothing is harder or heavier than Heavy Metal, this damage bypasses hardness. It is considered an important rite of passage for Disciples with this ability to level at least one fortified stronghold through repeated uses of this song.

*** ... and at least a dozen more. ***

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So, there ya go. The reason I'm posting this topic is to see if I can gauge and spark interest in the Disciple of Metal. I'll be starting the Kickstarter pitch soon and it'd be cool to know what sort of reception to expect. Thanks everyone for your time and your input.