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I started this prestige class as a conversion, but my updates quickly evolved into a different enough class to land it in the homebrew section.
Any comments or questions (especially from people willing to playtest it!) welcome.
"target takes damage equal to the bulwark's Strength modifier" should be 'strength bonus (if any)' or the like. I can't imagine somebody playing this with a low str, but its the general way those are done.
I'd take armor training off the list, between that, the pre existing fighter bonuses, insight, and the defender bonus, it would get pretty nuts.
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Hey thanks for checking it out!
"target takes damage equal to the bulwark's Strength modifier" should be 'strength bonus (if any)' or the like. I can't imagine somebody playing this with a low str, but its the general way those are done.
Hey look at that. That's the exact wording from the barbarian, so blame Jason. :)
I'd take armor training off the list, between that, the pre existing fighter bonuses, insight, and the defender bonus, it would get pretty nuts.
I'm confused, can you elaborate on this? (Armor training doesn't effect AC anymore, yeah?)
1. Why not follow the normal prestige class saving throw advancement? You seem to have given them all good saves, with an additional +1 bonus on all saves that's coming from... where? And that's without the free bonuses just for standing in one place.
2. With no rounds limit, I can pick Refocus at 2nd level and just claim I'm using that whenever I'm moving... then the stance is "always active" for every other round, all day, forever?
3. And then I grab a combat feat or armor training at 3rd. Which means that pretty much ALL fighters will want to make a 3- or 4-level dip into this class -- they lose pretty much nothing, and gain mad saving throw bonuses, d12 HD, a big AC bonus, and an at-will +4 bonus to Str and Con (plus more save bonuses and AC bonuses!).
4. Making it dwarf-only just means that people will ask why all dwarven fighters are so much better than all non-dwarven fighters...
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1. Why not follow the normal prestige class saving throw advancement?
I felt like the class (being the definition of "defensive") should have good saves all around. Though I like that idea, I'm not in love with it, and should other elements of the class prove too much, this will be the first thing I cut back on.
2. With no rounds limit, I can pick Refocus at 2nd level and just claim I'm using it whenever I'm moving... then the stance is "always active" for every other round, all day, forever?
Three things: First, the earliest you'll be able to select refocus is 3rd level bulwark (it has a prerequisite). Second, even at 10th level bulwark you can only use refocus 5 rounds per day. That's probably about the length of one fight. Third, yes, he can use defensive stance "forever." But aside from a 5-foot step and the possible 5 rounds from refocus, he can't move. Circumstance will certainly dictate that he must move, eventually.
Regarding movement in general, it is my opinion that this was the greatest shortcoming in the original dwarven defender, the inability to move without ending his defensive stance. Refocus exists to address that shortcoming, and it's limited enough that I think it does its job without upsetting that ethereal thing we call balance.
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3. And then I grab a combat feat or armor training at 3rd. Which means that pretty much ALL fighters will want to make a 3- or 4-level dip into this class -- they lose pretty much nothing, and gain mad saving throw bonuses, d12 HD, a big AC bonus, and an at-will +4 bonus to Str and Con (plus more save bonuses and AC bonuses!).
Now that's something. Fighters who dip for the AC boost would loose the fighter capstone(s), but if they're willing to give up the ability to move to do it... dunno, maybe ok, maybe not.
Delete is fail.
I'm confused, can you elaborate on this? (Armor training doesn't effect AC anymore, yeah?)
Armor training raises the max dex of your armor.
Fighters who dip for the AC boost would loose the fighter capstone(s)
I've never played a single-classed character to 20th level, ever. The capstone abilities look good on paper, but 99% of the time they have no bearing on actual game play. Starting 8th level with +2 to all your saves, better HD, big AC bonuses, and at-will bonuses to saves and Str and Con... and losing nothing at that level... that's a MUCH better deal than any capstone, hands-down.
Let me put it this way: if I used it as written in a standard Pathfinder campaign, 100% of all PC fighters would be lawful dwarves, and all of them would become bulwarks at 8th level. Every single one of them.
Third, yes, he can use defensive stance "forever." But aside from a 5-foot step and the possible 5 rounds from refocus, he can't move. Circumstance will certainly dictate that he must move, eventually.
Right, but since it's at will as a free acrion, he doesn't even need the trick I outlined. All he needs is a cleric cohort with a wand of lesser restoration to get rid of that pesky fatigue. There's no way I wouldn't do that!
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You do realize that at 8th level, they won't be able to move but 5-ft. while gaining all those bonuses, right?
I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying you've yet to convince me I need to make a change, because the restriction to movement is pretty severe.
EDIT: see next post, now I'm convinced!
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Right, but since it's at will as a free acrion, he doesn't even need the trick I outlined. All he needs is a cleric cohort with a wand of lesser restoration to get rid of that pesky fatigue. There's no way I wouldn't do that!
Ah-ha, now we're on to something. This is a great reason to impose a rounds-per-day limit on defensive stance.
Even if I hardly ever used (or even if I never used) the defensive stance, I'd still take it every time. All good saves (with the additional phantom +1 boost you provided on top of that; good PrC saves normally start at +1), plus d12 HD and a +1 bonus to AC that'll stack with pretty much everything I have, are worth more than 1 feat to me.
Then again, that just means that the fighter still sucks, not that there's anything wrong with your bulwark!
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(with the additional phantom +1 boost you provided on top of that; good PrC saves normally start at +1)
Ohhhhhh that's what you meant. Yeah that's a mistake, I forgot about the PF change to prestige class saves. (See, the original Dwarven Defender had good Fortitude and Will, but bad Reflex, so I thought that's what you were talking about.)
Well, I say, I'd love to see this posted on the Pathfinder Database.
Well, I say, I'd love to see this posted on the Pathfinder Database.
The Database would be a lot more useful if there were discussion following each entry, so that obvious bugs could be pointed out by readers and hopefully corrected by the original poster. The way it is now, a lot of things are almost ready at one end, ranging to slightly flawed, to poorly balanced, to not balanced at all, to just plain bad at the other end. Almost all game materials need playtesting and feedback; they don't appear off the pen ready for use.