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Looking for something to make your NPC hirelings and assorted Nodwicks a little less accident prone? Tired of telling villagers their sons and fathers won't be coming home because they were eaten by some terrible monster while showing you the location of the secret raider camp? Maybe you just need a sturdy, horror-haunted derelict to wander your countryside muttering incomprehensible mutterings under his breath with an arrow sticking out his neck and a dagger through his back? Well, sister, have I got a prestige class for you!
I've always liked the Survivor prestige class from Savage Species. It's a great prestige class for "Nodwick"-style commoners and other hirelings because it gives them a little survivability and doesn't let them outshine the PCs. The only problem I ever had with it was the idea of a month of study being enough to qualify for the class. That's why, with a slight difference in concept and a couple new features, I've redesigned the prestige class for use with PFRPG. So, here ya go. Have fun with it or let me know what you like/don't like about it.
SURVIVOR
The world can be a dangerous, cruel and pitiless place, and nobody knows that better than the survivor. Survivors are those creatures lucky enough and rugged enough to make it through the unluckiest and roughest of situations. From the common man born into servitude to the goblin merchant who sees his village destroyed and his family killed by an overzealous paladin, survivors have one thing in common: Their lives suck. It could be luck, karma, sheer stubbornness or some deity smiling down on them (or gleefully laughing as they torture the poor fools) but, unlike the teeming masses of cannon fodder and dragon chow around them, survivors seem to have that special something that gets them through the day and guarantees they’ll live to be kicked in the teeth again tomorrow.
Survivors come from all walks of life and all cultures and races, but they are most often common folk who have been victimized in some terrible way and somehow endured their torment long enough to gain a reputation for being hard to kill. These tortured souls go on to acquire abilities that greatly improve their chances at overcoming adversity and woe be to the slave who acquires the abilities of a survivor while still in the clutches of her master for she will quickly find herself at the top of the list of slaves to be used for the most dangerous of tasks.
Hit Dice: d8
REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a survivor, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Base Save Bonus: Highest base save bonus must be lower than character level.
Special: Few people actually strive to become survivors. However, whether by choice or cruel fate, the candidate must survive a horrible tragedy that tortures them both physically and mentally. The DM should determine what qualifies as a suitable tragedy, but something as rudimentary as surviving the dominating gaze and subsequent attacks of a vampire should not qualify a character for admission to this prestige class. Being dominated by a vampire who then commands the victim to murder his own family and feast on their blood over a period of several weeks, however, might.
CLASS SKILLS
The survivor can spend her skill points to purchase any skills that any of her previous classes (or her base monster race) have made available as a class skill (though not exclusive skills,) or any skill that is eligible as a cross-class skill. The survivor prestige class does not add new skills to a character’s list of class skills.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2+Int modifier.
Lev|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will| Class Abilities
1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Uncanny Dodge
2 | +0 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Evasion
3 | +0 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Improved Uncanny Dodge
4 | +0 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Improved Evasion
5 | +0 | +4 | +4 | +4 | DR 5/-, Mettle
CLASS FEATURES
All of the following are class features of the survivor prestige class.
Weapons and Armor Proficiency: A survivor neither gains nor loses proficiency with any weapon, armor or shields by gaining levels in this class.
Uncanny Dodge: Starting at 1st level, a survivor can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if she is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, she still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.
Evasion: At 2nd level and higher, a survivor can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the survivor is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless survivor does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Improved Uncanny Dodge: A survivor of 3rd level or higher can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking her. The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the survivor can flank her (and thus sneak attack her.)
Improved Evasion: This ability, gained at 4th level, works like evasion, except that while the survivor still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless survivor does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.
Damage Reduction: At 5th level, a survivor gains the ability to shrug off 5 points of damage from each blow or attack. Subtract 5 from the damage she takes each time the survivor is dealt damage. Damage Reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not less than 0. This damage reduction stacks with any other damage reduction of the “x/-“ type (such as the damage reduction feature of the barbarian.
Mettle: At 5th level, a survivor can resist magical and unusual attacks with great fortitude and willpower. If he makes a successful Fortitude or Will save against an attack that would normally have a lesser effect on a normal save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Will half or Fortitude partial,) he instead completely negates the effect. An unconscious or sleeping survivor does not gain the benefit of mettle.
SAMPLE SURVIVOR
Jim “Food” Freeman: Male human; Commoner 1/ Survivor 3; Medium-sized humanoid; HD:1d6+3d8+12; Hit Points: 32; Init:+0; Spd:30ft.; AC:10; Flat-Footed:10; Touch:10; BAB:+0; CMB:+1; CMD:+1; Attack: +1 Club (1d6+1 damage); Face/Reach:5ft./5ft.; SQ: Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, Imp. Uncanny Dodge, Skilled; AL:CG; SV: Fort +5 Ref +5 Will +6 Str 12 Dex 10 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 12 Cha 10
Skills and Feats: Climb 7 Perception 7 Profession-Beggar 8 Swim 6 Toughness, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes
Jim “Food” Freeman served as the mind-controlled slave of a cannibal sorcerer after watching his family devoured by the man as a child. After 19 years of cruel torture as the subject of many of the sorcerer’s magical experiments, he was made to take part in a battle royal to the death against the slaves of several of his master’s rivals. Jim lost the match but not before braining and strangling three of the other combatants. Disgraced in front of his rivals, Jim’s master left the young man to bleed to death on the arena floor. However, fate intervened and Jim woke up in a pile of bodies the cannibals had collected for the evening meal. With his master’s spell broken, Jim slipped away while they napped. Though he still occasionally responds to the name his master gave him (the tribal word for “food”) out of habit, Jim has taken on the name Jim Freeman since he no longer remembers his birth-name. He now refuses to work for anyone and travels the world admonishing and harassing slave owners. He’s also become a strict vegetarian, but he won’t tell anyone why.
lol, of all the PRC idea's out there this one is... Awesome. Its definitely one of the more funny PRCs I've ever seen concocted.
In all seriousness, love the concept.
Here's my only concern:
Base Save Bonus: Highest base save bonus must be lower than character level.
If you check the PFRPG:PHB or even the 3.5 PHB then you'll see that the base classes can become eligible for this PRC by 5th level, as their base save will be +4. That allows them to dip into this PRC and why not. They can beef up their class abilities or gain several new ones all within 5 levels.
So...
If you're going to use this then I strongly, suggest finding some other mechanic as an entry requirement. You don't want regular PCs being able to take this class, but then again the problem becomes whatever a commoner can do, a PC can do better.
Great Idea, you just need to keep the standard base classes from being able to get into it.
AK
Actually...
If my PC's wanted into this class and were willing to give up 5 BAB to gain some abilities... I'd have no problem with it.
Sorry, I just noticed that there is no BAB progression. I guess it kinda offsets it. Any class with a good BAB "might" consider losing the +20 BAB/and capstone to get these abilities so quickly. So if there's no BAB I guess it would be an even trade.
-AK
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I didn't want to make survivor completely off limits to PCs. I don't think it's too hard to imagine a fighter, cleric, etc. suffering some horrible fate and coming out of it with one of two levels of this class. I just figure commoners are victims by trade so this works out perfectly for them. Heck, they can start taking levels of survivor at level 2!
Survivors also give up new class skills and get a measly 2 skill points per level to offset the abilities they recieve. I reason that by the time a core class PC gains five levels of this class, they'd likely be facing creatures with abilities that make the survivor's class features nice to have but not gamebreaking.
I think the special requirement is also something DMs should actually make the player roleplay through as well. I'll have none of this, "well, my detailed character background says I was abused as a child and lost two fingers and all my hair while being forced to kill my own pet shocker lizard when it got rabies," malarkey.
There might be some builds that would use it. 2 skill points and d8 hp with no BAB at all would dissuade any power gamer I can think of.
More importantly though I can think of a lot of long suffering victims that would be explained\represented well by this.
This is a great class for a lackey that isn't supposed to stick around when things go bad. "Do unto others and get lost!"
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This is a great class for a lackey that isn't supposed to stick around when things go bad. "Do unto others and get lost!"
I agree. I could totally see this working for some evil despot's sycophant who lives a tortured existence just by serving some super-douchebag who occasionally makes him eat out of a chamber pot or "walk" a pair of trained hyenas by letting them chase the yes-man around the courtyard.
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I'm resurrecting this thread so I can post an edit to the save progression. I missed Charles Townsend's post about the PrC save changes in Pathfinder so I went back and made some changes so the saves are more in line with the standard.
The saves should be:
Lev|Fort|Ref|Will|
1 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
2 | +1 | +1 | +1 |
3 | +2 | +2 | +2 |
4 | +2 | +2 | +2 |
5 | +3 | +3 | +3 |