Revised pass at my myrmidon class. This is intended to be an alternate fighter class that has less feats, but uses maneuvers to impose temporary status effects and bonus/penalties.
Since it is somewhere between a monk and a fighter, it could be used as a martial artist, a variant monk, a variant fighter, or a more specialized warrior. I like the myrmidon idea simply because they were basically portrayed as "special forces" type warriors in the Trojan war. To me, that fits in with the spirit of martial maneuvers. They are, after all, special moves.
- Myrmidon [Alternate Fighter class]
- Bonus feats (7) – 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 18th
- At level 2, gained an aim pool, gain two points per level, points refresh once per day
- Myrmidon Maneuvers (11) – 2nd 4th 5th 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th
- Imposing (5): competence bonus of +1 to bluff and intimidate 7th, 11th, 13th, 17th, 19th
- Maneuvers:
- Cannot use more than one ability in a round unless stated otherwise
- Anti-nova clause: cannot use more than 4 total points in a round, regardless of what abilities are used.
- 1 point abilities are available at 1st level, 2 point abilities at 5th level, 3 point abilities at 10th level, and 4 point abilities at 15th level.
1 point maneuvers
Accurate Strike: You take aim at the smallest bit of an exposed foe, hitting him despite cover. Accurate strike reduces your opponent’s defense bonus due to cover by 2 points for each aim point spent. You cannot reduce the defense bonus of an opponent who enjoys full cover from you if that cover blocks your line of sight to him.
Armor Piercing Strike: You take aim at a chink in your opponent’s armor, hoping to overcome his defenses by hitting a poorly defended spot. Your strike ignores 1 point or normal damage reduction for each aim point spent. However, you cannot reduce damage reduction below 0. This bonus lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Dexterity modifier. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Armored Trap: You prepare a counterattack against an opponent, timing your strike to coincide with hers. You must spend 1 aim points to use this ability, then ready an action to attack when an enemy hits you with a melee attack. On a hit, you deal bonus damage equal to your Strength modifier in addition to your normal damage (which may include a bonus from your Strength modifier).
Daunting Strike: You land an attack that nicks a creature’s ear, creases his skull, sticks directly in the center of his coat of arms, or otherwise demonstrates your uncanny accuracy. Your target must make a Will save (DC 10 + half your myrmidon level + the number of aim points spent) or become shaken for a number rounds equal to your Dexterity modifier. You cannot use this ability to impose a condition worse than “shaken” upon a creature. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Disrupting Strike: You strike at an opponent’s hand, weapon, talon, or paw to disrupt his attacks. Rather than inflict damage, you cause him to suffer a –1 penalty to his attacks until the end of his next action for each aim point spent, unless he succeeds in a Fortitude save (DC equal to your attack’s result). This penalty lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Strength modifier. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Distant Arrow: Even at long range, your shots hit with uncanny accuracy. You reduce the range penalty to your attacks by 2 points per aim point spent.
Flanked Strike: When your target is flanked or denied his active bonus to defense, you can inflict extra damage if you are within 30 feet of him. For every aim point spent, your attacks for the round causes +1d6 points of damage. Do not multiply this damage on a critical hit. Creatures immune to critical hits are also immune to this ability. This ability lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Dexterity Modifier.
Furious Strike: You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls for each point spent. This bonus lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Strength modifier. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Hamstring Strike: To use this ability, ready an action to attack at your target when he moves. If your readied attack hits, your opponent must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half your myrmidon level + number of aim points spent on this strike) or move at half his normal speed. This penalty lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Strength modifier. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Insightful Blow: Your keenly focused mind allows you to exploit any weakness in your opponent’s defense, no matter how small. Each aim points you spend grants you a +1 bonus to your attack rolls. This bonus lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Dexterity modifier. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Myrmidon Blow: Just as you can focus your mind on a single objective or purpose, you can also focus your physical strength. Each aim points you spend grants you a +2 bonus to your damage roll for one attack. You must choose whether or not to spend these points before making the attack roll. The number of points you can spend on one myrmidon blow cannot exceed four.
Myrmidon Defense: You focus all your attention on avoiding the blows of your enemy. You may activate this ability as a move action. For every aim points you spend, you gain a +1 active bonus to your AC. This bonus lasts a number of rounds equal to your Dexterity modifier. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Quick Recovery: Even when he misses, a myrmidon can turn his misfortune into an advantage. When you miss with an attack, you may spend 1 aim points to gain a +2 bonus to AC against the missed opponent. This bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Unerring Arrow: Before you resolve your attack, your opponent must attempt a Reflex save (DC 10 + half your myrmidon level + number of points spent on this attack). If his save fails, he loses his Dexterity to defense against your next shot. This ability does not apply to subsequent shots.
2 point maneuvers
Combat Magnet: You assume a combat stance devised to draw attacks to you while defending your allies. As a full-round action, spend 2 aim points to enter this stance. For the rest of the duration, should an ally adjacent to you suffer a melee attack, you may immediately spend 1 aim points to force that attack to be resolved against you instead. Each individual attack requires the expenditure of a separate point, and you must spend the points before resolving the attack. This combat stance lasts a number of rounds equal to your Constitution modifier. You cannot make attacks of opportunity while you act as a combat magnet. While this ability is in effect, you may spend aim points as a reaction, but you cannot spend more than 4 aim points in a single round.
Composure: Your strength of concentration means you can work effectively even under the greatest pressure. Spend 2 aim points and choose a skill. You may take 10 on all checks with this skill, even if threatened or distracted, until the beginning of your next turn.
Cross Purposes: Myrmidons are used to dealing with multiple attackers. At the beginning of your turn, if you are threatened by two or more enemies, as a swift action, you may spend aim points to lead your opponents to step into each other and get in the way of each other’s blows. You may spend a maximum of 1 point per enemy that threatens you. Each of these enemies suffers a penalty to any attack rolls against you equal to the total number of points you spend. This penalty lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Dexterity. If used in successive rounds on the same creature(s), this ability does not stack with itself.
Deadly Arrow: Your ranged attacks are particularly damaging. By spending 2 aim points, your next few attacks gain an additional bonus to damage equal to your Dexterity bonus. This is not precision-based damage: it applies in full against creatures which are immune to critical hits, and to all projectiles fired as part of single attack, such as when using Volley Shot. This bonus lasts a number of rounds equal to your Dexterity modifier. If used in successive rounds, this ability does not stack with itself.
Defensive Stance: As a full-round action, you assume a defensive stance and wait for your enemies to expose themselves to your counterattacks. This stance lasts until the myrmidon takes a swift action to end it. Each time an opponent attacks and hits you, you may spend 1 aim points to make an immediate attack of opportunity against her. You cannot make more than one attack of opportunity against a target as normal, but attacks you make in this manner do not count against your normal limit on attacks of opportunity. You gain the benefit of your defensive stance until the start of your next action. You must make your attack of opportunity before your opponent resolves her attack. Per usual, you cannot spend more than 4 points in a round using this ability.
Devastating Strike: For every two aim points you spend, you add a bonus of +1d10 sneak attack damage to your next attack. You must announce how many points you are spending before you make your attack roll. A devastating strike can be executed even when an opponent is not flanked and has their full Dexterity bonus to AC.
Eye for Danger: A Myrmidon who can’t tell where the biggest threat is probably won’t live very long. If you spend 2 aim points and take a move action to scan the battlefield, you learn which enemy within 60 feet of your current position has the highest base attack bonus. This assessment includes only those enemies you can see.
Mobile Attack: If you hit your opponent in an attack, you can use the short distraction to maneuver around her. You may spend 2 aim points as an reaction after hitting a foe to move one square without provoking an attack of opportunity from her. You can use this ability multiple times to edge around an enemy but are limited to spending the usual 4 aim points per round.
Steady Aim: With careful focus, you ensure that your attacks land with sufficient force. You might not score a devastating hit, but you are too accurate to make a glancing or weak blow. After rolling damage for your weapon, you can choose to spend 2 aim points as a reaction and change the amount rolled to half the maximum damage possible on each die. This benefit does not apply to bonus damage represented as dice, such as with the sneak attack ability. Once activated, this state lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Strength modifier and you may continue to spend 2 points to change die rolls but you are still limited to spending 4 aim tokens per round.
Storm of Arrows: As a full-round action, you fire a volley of arrows at your target and the area around him. You fire four additional arrows for every 2 aim points spent. You rain shots upon the area where your foe stands and immediately around him, forming a great cloud of darts. Resolve your attack as normal, but compare the attack result against your target’s defense. On a hit, your target suffers normal damage, but any adjacent targets who are hit suffer 1 point of damage per additional arrow fired. An adjacent target cannot suffer damage greater than your Dexterity bonus. You inflict damage for only one shot against your target, regardless of how many arrows you actually put into the air. The storm of arrows represents a great stream of shots falling from the sky.
Vulnerable Strike: To use this ability, you must spend 2 aim points and ready an attack for when your target suffers damage from any other source. Your target loses his active bonus to defense against your readied attack. In addition, you inflict bonus damage equal to your Dexterity bonus. You may use vulnerable strike only once on a given attack.
3 point maneuvers
Critical Strike: If you take careful aim against an opponent, you can make a deadly strike to his eyes, throat, or other vulnerable spot. With some luck, you can strike a foe dead in one strike. Using this ability requires an expenditure of 3 aim points. Make a single attack as a full-round action. If your attack succeeds, you automatically cause a critical hit. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.
Draining Defense: You coax your opponent into wasting her strength on wild, uncontrolled strikes. With each attack, you sap her stamina until she is left vulnerable to your counterattack. You must designate a single foe as the target of this ability and spend 3 aim points as a move action. The target then attempts a Will save (DC 10 + half your level + your Constitution modifier + number of points spent). Failing the save means that, if she attacks you, she automatically takes an amount of nonlethal damage equal to 1d4 per two myrmidon levels. The target cannot suffer this damage more than once per round. She wastes energy on her attacks, or you step into her blows to jar her with a body check or similar harassing attack. The effects of this ability last until the start of your next action.
Furious Throw: You rear back and throw a weapon that is not normally designed for ranged combat. The raw power allows you to deliver an effective attack at short range. You may throw any one-handed weapon to a range of 20 feet as a normal attack without penalty. You must spend 1 aim points for each attack made in this manner. If you spend 1 additional aim point, you can first pick up a weapon on the ground in your space (though not one on your belt or in a sheath) as a free action. For example, if you hacked down two guards, you could pick up their swords and throw them using this ability and 4 aim points.
Mighty Blow: Your attacks strike with more force than normal as you learn to establish proper leverage with your weapon. Sometimes an attack that would inflict little damage from a lesser warrior deals a serious injury when you attempt it. After rolling damage, you may spend 3 aim points to reroll all the damage dice used for the attack, including damage represented as bonus dice. Use the higher of the two damage results.
Myrmidon’s Speed: By spending 2 aim points, you enter a state that makes you as quick and deadly as a tiger. You gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a +2 square (10-foot) bonus to movement for a number of rounds equal to 2 + your Constitution modifier. You gain all the benefits of an enhanced Dexterity as normal. You can use this ability once per encounter. You can extend its duration, at any time, by 2 rounds, by spending a single aim point as a free action. There is no limit to the total duration you may extend it to. You can choose to end this state at any time as a free action. Per usual, you may only spend 4 aim points with a given round.
Overpowering Assault: You bear down upon a single opponent, overwhelming her. You move into your opponent’s square, provoking an attack of opportunity in the process. However, while you occupy this space, you reduce your opponent’s reach by one square (5 feet). If this drops her reach to 0, she can only attack opponents in her square. Attempting to leave the square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. Your reach becomes 0 regardless of its original value. You must spend 3 aim points to activate this ability and use one square (5 feet) of movement to enter your foe’s space. Anyone who makes an attack into this square has an equal chance to hit you or your foe.
Overwhelming Charge: When using a charge action, you can spend 2 aim points to hurtle into the fray with little concern for your safety or defenses. You literally throw yourself into your opponent. In addition to the standard benefits of a charge, you may make a free trip attack before or after your strike, even if you normally cannot trip a foe with your weapon. If your attempt fails, your foe can try to trip you as normal. Apply the benefits of a charge to this attack.
Ranged Disarm: You fire an arrow to knock a weapon from an opponent’s hand. Spend 3 aim points and make a single attack as a standard action; your foe makes an opposed attack. If your result is higher, you knock his weapon to the ground in his current space. The target gains a +4 bonus if his weapon is two-handed. If his weapon is larger than yours, he gains an additional +4 bonus for each size category of difference between his weapon and yours. You do not gain a benefit if you wield a larger weapon. You cannot use this ability more than once on a given attack.
Ranged Trip: As a normal attack, you may spend 3 aim points to attempt to trip a target. Resolve your attack as normal. If you hit and inflict damage, your target must succeed at a Reflex save (DC 10 + half your myrmidon level + number of points spent) or be knocked prone. He gains the benefits of being prone (and the drawbacks, if applicable) against the rest of your attacks on your action.
Seize Opportunity: If an enemy you threaten performs an action that provokes an attack of opportunity from you, you may spend 3 points as a reaction. You may make an attack of opportunity against this enemy without it counting against your number of allowed attacks of opportunity for the round, nor against the maximum number of attacks of opportunity you may make against that opponent in a round. You may even make the attack if you have no remaining attacks of opportunity available this round. You cannot use this ability if you are flat-footed. You may use this ability only once per round against any given creature. Your ability to make normal attacks of opportunity against that enemy is not affected by using this ability. Myrmidon’s may spend more than 4 aim points per round using this ability.
4 point abilities
Blade Dancer: You may use this ability while under the effects of myrmidon’s speed, above. Each time you drop an opponent to below 0 hit points, you may spend 1 aim point to immediately move one square (5 feet) as part of your attack action. This movement does not count toward your movement allowance for the round, but it provokes an attack of opportunity (or not, if you move one-quarter of your speed or less) as normal. Using this ability, a myrmidon may spend more than 4 aim points per round, so long as the myrmidon’s speed stays in effect and the myrmidon continues to reduce foes to negative hit points.
Distracting Lure: By making yourself a tempting target, you lure an opponent into attacking you at the expense of defending herself against your allies. You spend 4 aim points as a free action to activate this ability and designate a single foe as its target. When your chosen foe attacks you, you immediately try to force her to make a Will save (DC 10 + half your myrmidon level + your Constitution modifier + number of points spent). Upon a failure, she loses her dexterity bonus to defense against the next attack that targets her. You have made yourself enough of a target that your opponent throws all her energy into hammering home her strikes.
Flurry of Strikes: While gauging an opponent’s defenses, the myrmidon launches a quick flurry of attacks that lacks accuracy but provides an additional strike. Normally, the opponent could defend against such a move easily, but the myrmidon spots gaps in her defenses. You make an additional attack against your opponent at your highest base attack bonus, though this attack and all others you attempt until your next turn suffer a –4 penalty. This ability, usable once per round, costs 4 aim points. You can launch a flurry of strikes only as part of a standard or full round attack action. You cannot use it with an attack of opportunity. The ability lasts a number of rounds equal to your Strength modifier.
Iron-Sheathed Counterattack: You lock an opponent’s weapon in your steely grasp, pulling the foe off balance. You can activate this ability once per round as a free action by spending 4 aim points. You can use it when an opponent hits you with a melee weapon. Your enemy provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you choose to disarm or trip her, she gets no chance to trip or disarm you on a failed attack. By catching your opponent’s weapon in a gauntleted hand, coaxing her into overextending herself and losing her balance, you can make a quick attack as her own strike rebounds from your armor and forces her backward for a moment.
Relentless Attack: You continue to fight even when your hit points fall below 0. By spending 4 aim points, you can carry on fighting and acting as normal until you die. You lose hit points and make Fortitude saves to stabilize as normal. Once begun, you can continue to peruse a relentless attack each round by spending 1 aim point as a free action. It will extend the effect another round. Additionally, if you begin the round at negative hit points while in this state, you may spend 1 aim point to heal 1d10 + your Constitution modifier’s worth of hits points of damage. When using the later two abilities, a myrmidon may spend more than 4 aim points in a round as long as a relentless attack is still in effect.
Volley Arrow: You use your first shot to guide the rest of your attacks as part of a full-attack action. If your first arrow strikes home, the rest will almost invariably follow into the target. If it misses, your arrows hit nothing but air. Before making your attack, spend 4 aim points. Roll a single attack against your opponent as normal. For your iterative attacks (the extra attacks you gain from having a high base attack bonus), use the following method to determine whether they hit: Subtract 3 points from the first attack’s result. This total is the result for your second arrow. Subtract another 3 (6 total) for the third arrow’s result, and 3 more (9 total) for the fourth arrow’s result. Use this method in place of rolling your attacks and using your iterative attack bonuses. When using a volley shot, you cannot employ feats that grant you additional attacks. You may use this ability only once on a given attack. Regardless of the number of projectiles you fire or throw, apply precision-based damage, such as sneak attacks, only once. If you score a critical hit, only the first shot deals critical damage, while all others deal regular damage.
Capstone Ability
Press the Advantage: A Myrmidon never lets up on an enemy once he has the advantage. Any time you make a successful attack against an enemy and inflict at least 1 point of damage, you may spend 5 points to immediately make an additional attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the same bonus as the attack you just made, and must target the same creature. You can continue to press the advantage as long as you have sufficient points and you continue to hit and deal damage. Unlike other abilities, Myrmidons have no limit to the number of aim points they can spend in a round when pressing the advantage.
Is there any rule about when you can take the different powers. It looks like a 4th level character could automatically crit twice per day. That is pretty powerful.
The class is awesome though. It seems so strong it would make the most sense in a game where all the PCs had a chance to be one, like fighting the Trojan war.
Great stuff.
cranewings wrote: Is there any rule about when you can take the different powers. It looks like a 4th level character could automatically crit twice per day. That is pretty powerful.
The class is awesome though. It seems so strong it would make the most sense in a game where all the PCs had a chance to be one, like fighting the Trojan war.
Great stuff.
A 4th level myrmidon would have two 1 point maneuvers ( from 2nd and 4th level).
Maneuvers are tiered off by level. At 5th level 2 point maneuvers become available, 3 point maneuvers at 10, and 4 point maneuvers at 15th.
But, you would have 4 points per day to use.From level 4 on you have the ability to spend enough points to hit your 4 point per round max. Although, at level 4, that would be all your specials. From there on you are relying completely on feats.
But, you can't pick up critical strike till 10th level. Which at that point in the game, is probably not ultra powerful (comparatively). You are getting an automatic critical strike on a single attack, executed as a full round action. That is compared to a 10d6+ fireaball, 3 attacks from a fighter, or two attack from a rogue coupled with +5d6 sneak attack dice each.
However, Thanks for being interested and taking a look! =)
Ohhh I get it. Good stuff.
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