The Juggernaut (Fighter Archetype)

[Daniel Chaplik]

I once had a close friend create a fighter named Ragna.

Ragna was the manliest man that ever lived. So manly, that he could eventually make a Jump check good enough to jump to the moon. Ragna was a charge fighter, that was his thing. If you hit him first, you could seriously ruin his day. But if he went first - ZERGRUUUUUUUUSH.

So I've been thinking about charging combat, and I feel like it doesn't get the love in Pathfinder that I used to see for it. After a while, I started tinkering around with a home-brew fighter archetype. I call it the Juggernaut.

Critiques, comments, praises, condemnations, let me know!

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No one crashes the party like a juggernaut. There is no obstacle that can stumble his charge, no gate that can bar his passage, and no wall that can stand in the face of his mighty blows. As a warrior, he charges headlong into any conflict, furiously rushing into and over – and sometimes straight through – any creature or obstacle foolish enough to stand in his way.

Bonus Feats:

At first level, all juggernatus must select Improved Bull Rush as their bonus feat. At second level, they must select Improved Overrun. Juggernauts gain these feats, however, even if they do not meet the prerequisites for them.

Hurtling Agility (Ex); 2nd Level:

The juggernaut gains improved alacrity while hurtling along the battlefield. He gains a +1 dodge bonus to his AC and Reflex saving throws when he charges; this bonus lasts for 1 round. At sixth level, and every four levels thereafter, this bonus improves by a further +1 (to a maximum of +5 at eighteenth level). This replaces Bravery.

Juggernaut's Charge (Ex); 3rd Level:

The juggernaut's dedicated focus to charging combat makes him hit as hard as a falling comet. When he declares a charge attack, he gains an additional +1 bonus on his attack roll and deals an additional 1d6 damage should his attack connect. This damage is the same type as that inflicted by his attack, for the purposes of resistance or damage reduction. In addition, the juggernaut treats his speed as if it were five feet higher to determine the maximum distance of his charging movement.

When the juggernaut reaches ninth level, these bonuses improve to an additional +2 on his attack roll, a total of 2d6 additional damage, and he treats his speed as a total of ten feet higher when determining the maximum distance of his charging movement. At fifteenth level, these bonuses improve again to a total of +3 to hit, 3d6 damage, and twenty additional feet. Finally, at twentieth level, these bonuses reach their maximum of +4 to hit, 4d6 damage, and forty additional feet.

This replaces Armor Training I.

Charge Through (Ex); 5th Level:

juggernaut gains the ability to beat his way right past fallen obstacles. When the juggernaut declares a charge attack and that attack ends up killing or incapacitating the target, or it destroys the object charged (usually a door or wall), the juggernaut may use an immediate action to move an additional distance of up to his speed (including the effective increase for Juggernaut's Charge). This extra movement does not count against the juggernaut's total movement for the round, but it does provoke attacks of opportunity as normal. This replaces Weapon Training I.

Charge True (Ex); 7th Level:

juggernaut is not adversely affected by weapons that are readied against his charge. While an enemy is still free to do so, no extra damage is inflicted to the juggernaut for it. This replaces Armor Training II.

Cometary Collision (Ex); 9th Level:

The juggernaut becomes a thunderbolt of destruction on the battlefield. By carefully timing his charge, he rushes forward and slams into an enemy just as she gathers the speed necessary to charge themselves. In essence, he turns that enemy's own momentum against her. A juggernaut can prepare this class feature for use by readying a standard action to use when an enemy declares a charge. At any point during that enemy's charge, the juggernaut charges her. He gains all the usual benefits and penalties for the charge, and this movement is restricted as normal. The foe lose the benefits of their charge (though they retain any penalties), but can attack him instead of their original target – assuming they survive his initial assault. This replaces Weapon Training II.

Marathon Charge(Ex); 11th Level:

When the juggernaut charges, he may move up to three times his speed to reach an enemy. A juggernaut with the Run feat can instead move up to four times his speed to reach an enemy. Whenever the juggernaut charges when reduced to a single standard or move action, he may still move up to twice his speed to reach an enemy. This replaces Armor Training III.

Charge Anyway (Ex); 13th Level:

The juggernaut may declare a charge attack even when his movement would only cover five feet of distance. Difficult terrain does not hinder his charge attacks, nor does the presence of an ally within line of his movement. If he encounters an obstacle that he could otherwise move around quickly (at the DM's discretion, such as the corner of two walls or a small crate), such an item does not prevent him from charging either. This replaces Weapon Training III.

Swift Charge (Ex); 15th Level:

The juggernaut may declare a charge attack as a standard action instead of a full-round action. This also affects the action required to make use of his Gatecrasher ability. This replaces Armor Training IV.

Fall Upon Them (Ex); 17th Level:

By emulating the wild and furious blows of many wild beasts, the juggernaut is able to strike quickly even after a charge attack. Though charging requires a standard action for him by this point, he gains the ability to follow the movement through with a full attack instead of only a single attack. If any of the juggernaut's iterative attacks, or additional attacks from any other source (such as the speed weapon quality, the haste spell, or from simply wielding a weapon in both hands) would kill/incapacitate an enemy or destroy an item or obstacle, he can make use of his Charge Through feature. This replaces Weapon Training IV.

Nimble Charge (Ex); 19th Level:

The juggernaut becomes an agile bullet of flesh and steel. Once per charging movement, he may change his direction. This allows him to charge enemies he could not otherwise reach by moving in a straight line, so long as they remain within the maximum distance he can move as part of a charge. This replaces Armor Mastery.

Foolhardy Rush (Ex); 20th Level:

When the juggernaut declares a charge attack and moves through the threatened space of a creature who does not take an attack of opportuniy against him, they provoke one from the juggernaut. He may make this attack as part of his movement, and it does not count towards the number of attacks he can make against the target of his charge. This replaces Weapon Mastery.

[Arkady Zelenka]

This is pretty cool, I might use this in my next session. If I do, I'll let you know how it works out.

[Daniel Chaplik]

Arkady Zelenka wrote:

This is pretty cool, I might use this in my next session. If I do, I'll let you know how it works out.

I'll definitely keep an eye out for any further replies from you, then!

One of the things that I'm still thinking about going back and trying to tweak further is the Charge Anyway feature. I wanted to give that feature way earlier than I did, but couldn't justify it coming before some of the features that are already at those low levels. If you try it out, let me know whether you used it for an NPC or PC, and how it went!

[Browman]

Swift Charge refrences gate crasher, but there is no gate crasher ability?

[Daniel Chaplik]

Browman wrote:

Swift Charge refrences gate crasher, but there is no gate crasher ability?

You are correct. I ended up dropping Gatecrasher in favor of Charge Through. Thought I got all the old references, but I must have missed one! Thanks for pointing it out!

[Chaotic Fighter]

It is very interesting...I fear a could easily make this character extremely overpowered though.

[Daniel Chaplik]

Chaotic Fighter wrote:

It is very interesting...I fear a could easily make this character extremely overpowered though.

You could very easily make an powerful juggernaut. But he'd only be good at that one thing. So it's a fair trade-off in my opinion; you become the undisputed master of your chosen fighting style - which, let's face, is why anyone chooses to focus on one fighting style to begin with - at the cost of versatility.

Charging's nice and all, but even for high-level juggernaut's distance can be a powerful factor, among other things.

[Chaotic Fighter]

Daniel Chaplik wrote:

Chaotic Fighter wrote:

It is very interesting...I fear a could easily make this character extremely overpowered though.

You could very easily make an powerful juggernaut. But he'd only be good at that one thing. So it's a fair trade-off in my opinion; you become the undisputed master of your chosen fighting style - which, let's face, is why anyone chooses to focus on one fighting style to begin with - at the cost of versatility.

Charging's nice and all, but even for high-level juggernaut's distance can be a powerful factor, among other things.

To guy like me that's not really a problem. I like to take fighters and focus them on being good at one or two things to the maximum potential. And I actually role play them based off of a personality that I believe would be suitable to that skill. Besides fighters have lots of feats to work with. Fleet is fun for distance. And there are race abilities and the like to consider as well. And multiclassing is always a top notch option with a fighter in my eyes. But I digress because your point remains valid regardless of what I just said. Basically I think it would be to easy for this character.

[Vamptastic]

This archetype makes me want to make Goldberg.