I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword
~sacramentum gladiatorium~
Ok I am not a fan of most prestige classes and want to make Gladiator into a fighter variant. so far I have...
Gladiators are Fighter that emphasize more on weapon training that training with heavy Armor. The gladiator lives and dies by the whims of the crowd.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A fighter is proficient with all simple martial and exotic weapons, light, and medium armor and shields (Excluding tower shields ).
Any Suggestions on other changes?
I wouldn't give them ALL exotic weapons at 1st level. Maybe 1 exotic weapon to replace heavy armor proficiency, and then maybe a bonus exotic weapon proficiency at levels 5, 9, 13, 17 to replace weapon training I-IV (gladiators do not specialize in mastering a specific weapon, but learn to be proficient in all sorts of exotic weapons).
Maybe replace Armor Training I-IV with some kind of Piecemeal Armor or Improvised Armor Training?
Maybe update the class skill list a bit? Throw in some Acrobatics, Bluff, Diplomacy, Perform, Sense Motive, Knowledge local, and get rid of Handle Animal, Ride, Knowledge dungeoneering, Knowledge engineering, and Survival.
Or maybe replace Weapon Training with Roar of the Crowd. Make a Diplomacy or Intimidate check against the Crowd. For each category you improve the crowd's attitude towards you, you get a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls. For each category the crowd's attitude grows more hostile to you, you take a -1 morale penalty to attack and damage rolls.
Maybe throw in a mechanic where you can influence the crowd to grow hostile to your opponent? Might replace Armor Training?
Maybe replace Bravery with Exotic Weapon Training? Either you get a free exotic weapon proficiency at levels 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, or you reduce the penalty when using exotic weapons by 1 at levels 2, 6, 10, and 14. At 18th level, you gain a virtual Weapon Focus in all exotic weapons.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
GLADIATOR FIGHTER ARCHETYPE
Gladiators perform in the arena. They battle for glory, their success in combat tied to the favor of the crowds. Gladiators fight in extended combats, recovering from their wounds as the crowds demand that they fight on or die. They learn to use unusual weapons and tactics, entertaining their bloodthirsty audiences with each new weapon or trick.
Class Skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Perform, Sense Motive.
Gladiators are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, light and medium armors, and shields (but not tower shields).
Gladiator Training: At 1st level, the gladiator gains 1 of the following feats as a bonus feat: Catch Off Guard, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Endurance, Enforcer, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Fight On, Improved Unarmed Strike, Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack, or Toughness.
The gladiator does not need to meet the requirements of the selected feat; and may ignore the requirements of the selected feat when selecting feats that require the chosen feat. For example, a gladiator that chooses Combat Expertise as his Gladiator Training does not need to have an Intelligence of 13 to select that feat and can choose to get Improved Disarm at a later time, even though he does not have an Intelligence of 13.
This ability replaces the fighter’s heavy armor and tower shield proficiencies.
Exotic Weapon Training (Ex): At 2nd level, and every 6 levels thereafter, the gladiator reduces the attack penalty for fighting with an exotic weapon by 1. At 20th level, he is considered proficient with every exotic weapon.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Bravery class feature.
Blood for Blood (Ex): At 3rd level, whenever the gladiator scores a critical hit against an opponent, he can choose to either heal a number of hit points equal to the critical multiplier of his weapon or gain a number of temporary hit points equal to twice the critical multiplier of his weapon; these temporary hit points disappear after 1 round per level of the gladiator.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Armor Training I class feature.
Roar of the Crowd (Ex): At 5th level, the gladiator learns how to get inspired by the roar of the crowd. Whenever the gladiator is in combat while being observed by at least 20 non-combatants, he can attempt to get the crowd to cheer for him. If the crowd has an initial attitude of Indifferent, the gladiator can make a DC 25 Perform (acting, dance, oratory, or singing) check as a move action to make the crowd cheer for him. This grants the gladiator a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls for 1 round. For every 5 points the gladiator beats the DC, the morale bonus to attack and damage rolls increases by 1. The DC increases by 5 if the crowd is Unfriendly and by 10 if the crowd is Hostile. The DC decreases by 5 if the crowd is Friendly and by 10 if the crowd is Helpful. The gladiator can make Diplomacy or Intimidate skill checks to alter the attitude of the crowd. Once the crowd is cheering, the gladiator can make a Perform check as a swift action to keep them cheering for 1 additional round.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Weapon Training I class feature.
Turn the Tide of Battle (Ex): At 7th level, the gladiator learns how to get the crowd hinder his opponents. Whenever the gladiator is in combat while being observed by at least 20 non-combatants, he can attempt to get the crowd to jeer at his opponents. If the crowd has an initial attitude of Indifferent, the gladiator can make a DC 25 Perform (acting, dance, oratory, or singing) check as a move action to make the crowd jeer at his opponent. Opponents suffer a -1 morale penalty to attack and damage rolls for 1 round. For every 5 points the gladiator beats the DC, the morale penalty to attack and damage rolls increases by 1. The DC increases by 5 if the crowd is Unfriendly and by 10 if the crowd is Hostile. The DC decreases by 5 if the crowd is Friendly and by 10 if the crowd is Helpful. The gladiator can make Diplomacy or Intimidate skill checks to alter the attitude of the crowd. Once the crowd is jeering, the gladiator can make a Perform check as a swift action to keep them jeering for 1 additional round.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Armor Training II class feature.
The Crowd Goes Wild (Ex): At 9th level, the gladiator increases the threat range of any weapon he wields by the amount of his Roar of the Crowd bonus. He doubles this bonus to his attack rolls to confirm critical hits. In a round the gladiator scores a critical hit, he adds 5 times the amount of the critical multiplier to his next Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Perform skill check.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Weapon Training II class feature.
Improved Blood for Blood (Ex): At 11th level, whenever the gladiator scores a critical hit against an opponent while benefiting from the Roar of the Crowd and the crowd is cheering for him, he can choose to either heal a number of hit points equal to his level multiplied by the critical multiplier of his weapon or gain a number of temporary hit points equal to his level multiplied by the critical multiplier of his weapon; these temporary hit points disappear after 1 round per level of the gladiator; temporary hit points from multiple applications of this ability overlap and do not stack with themselves.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Armor Training III class feature.
Hero of the Arena (Ex): At 13th level, whenever the gladiator scores a critical hit while the crowd is cheering for him because of his Roar of the Crowd ability, he gains a temporary Hero Point. He can have a number of temporary Hero Points equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1). These temporary Hero Points disappear at the end of the combat.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Weapon Training III class feature.
Greater Turn the Tide of Battle (Ex): At 15th level, the gladiator can use his Turn the Tide of Battle ability as a free action.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Armor Training IV class feature.
Glory of the Arena (Ex): At 17th level, whenever the gladiator is benefiting from the Roar of the Crowd and the crowd is cheering for him, once per round as a free action, the gladiator can treat a single d20 roll as if the gladiator was benefiting from the Aid Another action; this must be declared before the d20 is rolled. The affected d20 can be rolled by either the gladiator or his opponent.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Weapon Training IV class feature.
Greater Blood for Blood (Ex): At 19th level, whenever the gladiator hits an opponent while benefiting from the Roar of the Crowd and the crowd is cheering for him, he heals 1 hit point.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Armor Mastery class feature.
Ultimate Glory (Ex): At 20th level, whenever the gladiator is benefiting from the Roar of the Crowd and the crowd is cheering for him and his attack roll threatens the be a critical hit, he may choose to roll confirm twice and select the higher result.
This ability replaces the fighter’s Weapon Mastery class feature.
The exotic weapon stuff seems a bit complicated, IMHO. Maybe would be cleaner to take a page from a class like bard, where it states which basic weapon type the class is proficient with, then presents a short list of the specific additional weapons of another type, with which the class is proficient.
In this case, there are a number of weapons we all recognize as being typical for gladiators. Like this:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A gladiator is proficient with
all simple and martial weapons plus the bolas, net, spiked chain
and whip. Gladiators are also proficient with all light and medium
armor blah, blah, blah...
The exotic weapon stuff seems a bit complicated, IMHO. Maybe would be cleaner to take a page from a class like bard, where it states which basic weapon type the class is proficient with, then presents a short list of the specific additional weapons of another type, with which the class is proficient.
In this case, there are a number of weapons we all recognize as being typical for gladiators. Like this:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A gladiator is proficient with
all simple and martial weapons plus the bolas, net, spiked chain
and whip. Gladiators are also proficient with all light and medium
armor blah, blah, blah...
The Exotic Weapon Training? It just reduces the penalty for using an exotic weapon you're not proficient in by 1 at levels 2, 8, 14, and 20. So -3 at 2nd, -2 at 8th, -1 at 14th, and no penalty at 20th.
I really like your Variant from a flavor and balance stand point . But i Was thinking of something more useful in more situations. There aren't going to be allot of crowds in a dungeon for example. Basically The crowd based stuff doesn't seem all that useful to an adventurer.
Still cool build and i'm thinking i will use this in an arena style one shot adventure i was planning.
Yeah, this was designed for a pit fighter where there is small crowd betting on who wins and who dies, a great big arena spectacle in front of thousands of spectators, possibly a duelist who takes the fight out of the bar and into the street, or a bodyguard who protects his empress or highpriestess in her throne room or temple, with loyal courtiers and acolytes cheering him on.
A dungeoneer or wilderness explorer would probably select a different archetype.
The variant is good. Keep in mind that a gladiator IS trained to fight for the crowd, in the wilderness or a dungeon some of wath he learned would be next to useless. An adventuring gladiator would just have to arrange his fights so he has a crowd. Travelling with a small caravan would help on the wilderness, and if he or one of his allies has Leadership he doesn't have much to worry about. In small cramped dungeons he would be at his worst, no doubt about it.
So basically has to use a feat to be able to use allot of its class ability's.
Also I think gladeators were trained to more entertain the crowd than to be Inflamed by them.