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View Full Version : Four kinds of Overlord (3.5 Prestige Classes) Bandit King Up



Angry Bob
2010-05-19, 12:22 PM
I split my previous Overlord into several different classes. See the previous version and discussion here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152339)

The Warlord
Warlords are martially-oriented Overlords. They make the best use of their physical power and combat skill leading their troops into battle and singlehandedly beating resistors on both sides to death.

Entry Requirements:
Alignment: Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil
Skills: Intimidate 12, Knowledge(History) 6
Feats: Leadership, Power Attack
Base Attack Bonus: +9

HD: d12
Skill points per level: 2 + Int mod

{table]Level | BaB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special
1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Foible, Iron Grip, Spikes of Villainy
2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Frightful Presence, Motivate
3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Evil Overlord, Furious Onslaught
4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Improved Frightful Presence
5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Never Found the Body, Overwhelm[/table]

Class Skills: Climb, Concentration, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge(Arcana), Knowledge(History), Knowledge(Religion), Move Silently, Ride, Use Rope

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Warlord gains proficiency with medium and heavy armor but no shields.

Foible: See Foibles, below. The Warlord has access to the No, I Expect You to Dine, Before I Kill You, Leave him to Me, Orcus on his Throne, Left for dead, and Minion-Shaped Blind Spot Foibles.

Iron Grip: At first level, a Warlord gains the Improved Grab special ability.

Spikes of Villainy: All heavy armor the Warlord wears is considered to have spikes.

Motivate: Beginning at second level, the Warlord takes no leadership penalties for cruelty, causing the death of followers, or causing the death of a cohort. He still gains the standard bonuses for having a stronghold, etc.

Frightful Presence: At 2nd level, whenever the Warlord Charges or attacks, all opponents within 30 feet who have fewer hit dice than him must make a DC(10 + 1/2 Character level + Cha Modifier) Will Save or be shaken for 1d6 + his cha modifier rounds. Opponents that save are immune to it for 24 hours.

Evil Overlord: At 3rd level, the Warlord may use his intimidate ranks plus his strength modifier as his leadership score.

Furious Onslaught: At 3rd level, the Warlord gains the pounce special ability.

Improved Frightful Presence: At 4th level, the Warlord's frightful presence is improved. Opponents that fail their saves instead cower for 1d6 + his cha modifier rounds and opponents that make their save are shaken for 1 round.

Overwhelm: At 5th level,the Warlord's strength and charisma both increase by 2 permanently.

Capstone Ability: The Warlord can choose Never Found the Body and Behold the True Form Capstones.

The Mad Wizard
The Mad Wizard is exactly that. Note that while it says 'Wizard', it's open to most arcane casters as well as some divine casters. Though because of how strong the wizard is, it's still probably the best choice. Not my fault.

Entry Requirements:
Alignment: Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil
Skills: Intimidate 9, Spellcraft 12
Feats: Leadership, any item creation feat, any metamagic feat
Other: Ability to cast 3rd-level spells

HD: d4
EDIT: Skill points per level: 2 + Int mod

{table]Level | BaB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spellcasting
1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Foible, Forbidden Arcana | -
2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Fearsome Arcana, Motivate | +1 to Existing Spellcasting Class
3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Legion of Evil, Forbidden Arcana | +1 to Existing Spellcasting Class
4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Improved Fearsome Arcana | +1 to Existing Spellcasting Class
5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Death Means Nothing, Forbidden Arcana | +1 to Existing Spellcasting Class[/table]

Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Disguise, Intimidate, Knowledge(All), Spellcraft, Use Magic Device, Use Rope

Class Features:

Weapons and Armor: The Mad Wizard gains no proficiency with weapons or armor.

Foible: See Foibles, below. The Mad Wizard has access to the No, I Expect You to Dine, Before I Kill You, Leave him to Me, Orcus on his Throne, Left for dead, Minion-Shaped Blind Spot, Shun the Light, and Aversion to Good Foibles.

Forbidden Arcana: At 1st, 3rd, and 5th level, the Mad Wizard may add a spell from the death, evil, or destruction domain spell lists to his spellbook or spells known.

Motivate: As the Warlord Class Feature of the same name.

Fearsome Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell, all opponents within 30 feet who have fewer hit dice than you must make a DC(10 + 1/2 Character level + Cha Modifier) Will Save or be shaken for 1d6 + your cha modifier rounds. Opponents that save are immune to it for 24 hours.

Legion of Evil: A Mad Wizard may use his ranks in Spellcraft + his charisma modifier as his leadership score.

Improved Fearsome Arcana: At 4th level, the Mad Wizard's Fearsome Arcana is improved. Opponents that fail their saves instead cower for 1d6 + his cha modifier rounds and opponents that make their save are shaken for 1 round.

Capstone: The Mad Wizard may choose the Come Back as a Ghost and Behold the True Form capstones.


The Bandit King
The Bandit King is exactly that. He does what he does for the acquisition of wealth and power.

Entry Requirements:
Alignment: Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil
Skills: Intimidate 12, Move Silently 9
Feats: Leadership, Combat Reflexes
Other: Sneak Attack +3d6

HD: d6
Skill points per level: 6 + Int mod

{table]Level | BaB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special
1st | +0 | +2 | +2 | +0 | Foible Track Sneak Attack +1d6
2nd | +1 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Motivate, Always Packing
3rd | +2 | +3 | +3| +1 | Bandit Lord, Sneak Attack +2d6
4th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Backstab
5th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Play Dead, Sneak Attack +3d6 [/table]

Class Skills: Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Handle Animal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge(Local), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Perform, Ride, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Survival, Swim, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Use Rope

Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Bandit King gains no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Foible: See Foibles, below. The Warlord has access to the No, I Expect You to Dine, Leave him to Me, Left for dead, Weakness for Wealth, and Minion-Shaped Blind Spot Foibles.

Track: At 1st level, the Bandit King gains Track as a bonus feat.

Always Armed: A Bandit King is almost never without a backup. As long as he hasn't been extensively searched and disarmed, he may draw a dagger. Daggers drawn this way are 'lost track of' immediately after leaving his hand, unless it's thrown as an attack, in which case it disappears after the attack resolves. Somehow.

Sneak Attack: As the Rogue Class Feature. This stacks with any sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish damage the Bandit King already has.

Motivate: As the Warlord Class Feature.

Bandit Lord: At 3rd level, the Bandit Lord may use his Intimidate Modifier plus his charisma modifier as his leadership score.

Backstab: An opponent that is dealt damage by the Bandit King's sneak attack must make a fortitude save(DC 10 + the Bandit King's Dexterity Modifier + Class Level) or be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds.

Capstone: The Bandit King may choose the Never Found the Body, Come Back as a Ghost, and Play Dead Capstones.

The Mastermind



The Mastermind is the fourth and final part of my overlord project. He shuns direct confrontation, weaving complex multilayered plans and watching them play out from a distance.

Prerequisites
Alignment: Any Evil
Skills: Bluff 12 ranks, Diplomacy 12 ranks, knowledge (any two) 9 ranks, Disguise 9 ranks
Feats: Leadership, Skill Focus(Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate),


Hit Die: d6
Class Skills: Appraise, Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge(all), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Profession, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Speak Language, Spellcraft, Spot, Use Magic Device, Use Rope
Skill Points Per Level: 8 + int mod

{table]Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort | Ref | Will | Special
1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Unnatural Intellect, Foible
2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | You Cannot Hide, You Cannot Run
3rd | +1 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Which am I?, Web of Deception
4th | +2 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Exactly as Planned
5th | +2 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Capstone[/table]

Class Features

Weapons and Armor: No new proficiencies.

Foible: As an Overlord, the Mastermind must choose a Foible at first level. The foibles available to the Mastermind are as follows. Failure to follow a foible results in the loss of all this class's class features for 24 hours except where noted. The Mastermind has access to the No, I Expect You to Dine, Before I Kill You and Minion-Shaped Blind Spot foibles.

Unnatural Intellect: At first level, the Mastermind may use Alarm, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Comprehend Languages, and Detect Secret Doors as spell-like abilities usable at will at caster level equal to your character level.

You Cannot Hide: Unlike other Overlord classes, the Mastermind immediately recognizes his worthy opponents, piercing any disguise, illusion, or anything else short of epic magic.

You Cannot Run: At second level, the Mastermind gains Locate Object and See Invisibility as spell-like abilities usable at will at a caster level equal to your character level.


Which am I?: At 3rd level, the Mastermind may use Mirror Image as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to his int modifier at CL=character level.

Web of Deception: At 3rd level, The Mastermind, and the Mastermind's followers and cohort are affected permanently as though under the effect of Undetectable Alignment. In addition, the Mastermind and the Mastermind's Cohort are affected permanently as though under the effect of Mind Blank.

Exactly as Planned: A 4th-level Mastermind may use Scrying and Arcane Eye as spell-like abilities a number of times per day equal to his int modifier each at caster level = character level. The saving throw for the scrying is DC 14 + Mastermind's Int modifier.

Capstone: At 5th level, the Mastermind chooses a capstone ability. He may choose from the following: Never found the Body, Come Back as a Ghost, Just a Decoy, and Behold the True Form.

Foibles:
Foible: An Overlord must have a foible, selected from the list below. Failure to adhere to a foible strips you of your Overlord class features and any spellcasting levels gained through that class for 24 hours. A few of these require worthy opponents. These are recurring enemies and are determined as such by the DM for each Overlord. An Overlord automatically knows who is a worthy opponent and who is not. So, while he knows who his worthy opponents are, he gains no special ability to pick them out if they're disguised or hidden unless he sees through their disguise or finds them by other means.

No, I Expect You to Dine: You cannot kill or capture a worthy opponent the first time you meet them.

Before I Kill You: When you are given a chance to kill a worthy opponent, you give an expository speech outlining any or all of the following: Why you do what you do, how much you hate them, and what you plan to do after they're dead. This speech must take a minimum of 10 rounds in-game, and the worthy opponent must be able to hear or at least understand it. After that, you're free to kill them whenever you feel like it.

Leave him to Me: If you are present, your followers can't attack a worthy opponent unless you are already attacking one, and they can't attack one you are attacking.

Orcus on his Throne: When you take this foible, you choose a base of operations. You must return to this base of operations after a week outside, and must remain in the base for one week after that. Unlike other foibles, if your remain outside your base of operations for more than a weak, you lose access to your class features as long as you remain outside after that and regain them upon returning to your fortress and remaining there for a week.

Left for dead: Neither you nor your underlings may coup-de grace a worthy opponent.

Minion-Shaped Blind Spot: The Warlord's cohort plans to kill him and take his place. The Warlord cannot act on this until the cohort directly attacks him, uses a spell clearly intended to cause him harm, or is seen directing forces against him.

Shun the Light: The Overlord hates the sun and can't spend more than 2 rounds in direct sunlight. If he does, he loses his class features and all spellcasting levels gained from this class for 24 hours.

Aversion to Good: Overlord can't cast spells himself or via spell completion or activation items that have the Good descriptor or spells that appear in the healing, good, or sun domain spell lists. The Overlord can only take this foible if the spellcasting he advances with his class is divine.

Weakness for Wealth: When presented with what he perceives as a great amount of wealth(Worth 100,000 gold pieces or more) , the Overlord must spend 1d12 rounds wallowing if he isn't in any immediate danger. While wallowing, he takes a -6 penalty to listen, spot, and initiative checks.

Capstone Abilities:

Play Dead: At 5th level, The Overlord gets +20 on bluff checks to feign death. Characters that loot his body while he's 'dead' become worthy opponents. In addition, once a week, while feigning death, having taken damage, and unobserved, the Overlord may use teleport as a spell-like ability with the caster level equal to his character level.

Never Found the Body: At 5th level, if the Overlord is brought below -9 hit points, but his body is not observed by his enemies for at least three days, he is brought back to life as though through resurrection if his body was not completely obliterated.

Come Back as a Ghost: If the Overlord is brought below -9 hp but his body is unobserved by his enemies for at least an hour, he gains the Ghost template and comes back to "life". This can't happen while he is a ghost, but if he is brought back to true life, it may happen again normally.

Just a Decoy: Once a week, when brought below -9 hp, the Overlord may choose to be somewhere else within range of a teleport spell at a caster level equal to his character level, while the one that was brought below -9 will turn out to be just an impostor if the body is examined.

Behold the True Form: When brought below -9 hit points, the Overlord changes shape as though with polymorph cast at a caster level equal to his character level. He regains all hit points in this form, but the change is permanent, and once killed, he may not be brought back by any means short of a Miracle or Wish spell.

Log:
Added Minion-Shaped Blind Spot Foible
Fixed Spikes of Villainy
Added Bandit King
"Fixed" Aversion to Good
Various Wording Changes
Changed listing for foibles
Added Modular Capstone mechanic
Moved Mastermind class to here

al'raith
2010-05-19, 02:39 PM
I like them I can't wait to try them out with the goblins, by the way how about adding a vile feat to the prerequisites?

Altair_the_Vexed
2010-05-19, 02:47 PM
Lovely stuff! Just what we all need for the slightly camp BBEG in a Saturday night beer and pizza game.

Just one - ahem - point on the special abilities, though:
Spikes of Villainy - these spikes go away when anyone else wears the armour? Only one spiky suit at a time? That's a bit odd. Not very useful, either - surely the Warlord can just have a suit of armour made with spikes on anyway? They're only cheap to add.
I'd suggest that you have the Spikes of Villainy grant another property - like you can add a magical weapon ability worth up to +1/class level, or something.

Drogorn
2010-05-19, 02:53 PM
The warlord table lists an ability called "Overpower," but that ability does not appear in the text. Presumably, you meant for it to be the "Overwhelm" ability.

DracoDei
2010-05-20, 09:58 AM
I would allow the Mad Wizard's capstone to re-activate if (s)he is returned to life first.

Volthawk
2010-05-20, 11:09 AM
In "Shun the Light" what happens if a wizard is forced out into direct sunlight? Is it like the Derro (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/derro.htm) racial feature (Or more like the Caller in Darkness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/callerInDarkness.htm) or Bodak (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/bodak.htm))? Also, Altair brought this up a bit, but what's the point to Spikes of Villainy?

By the way, splitting up the class is a good solution to the problems of the old class. Kudos!

They're still Foibles, so I guess it means no class features for 24 hours, like the other Foibles.

Angry Bob
2010-05-20, 09:09 PM
Okay, Bandit King's up. I don't really know what else I would call it. Pirate King seems much more apt, but that implies oceans and ships.

Idea: What if each class, instead of having a fixed capstone, had a choice from a common pool of abilities? After all, they are supposed to be the same class, separated mainly for balance/playability reasons. You know, abilities that munchkins can use to annoy their DM enhance that climactic encounter with the BBEG that show up in any kind of villain.

Capstone Ideas:
One-Winged Angel(Turns into a preselected monster upon defeat)
more to come

DracoDei
2010-05-20, 10:56 PM
A better reset condition for the Mad Wizard's capstone might be gaining a level now that I think of it.

Fortuna
2010-05-21, 08:22 AM
I may be missing something, but isn't Aversion to Good the bestest foible ever, since there's almost no reason you would break it anyway? I'd remove it, personally.

DracoDei
2010-05-21, 01:56 PM
I may be missing something, but isn't Aversion to Good the bestest foible ever, since there's almost no reason you would break it anyway? I'd remove it, personally.

You are definitely missing something. It may or may not be balanced right, but it does mean that a cleric with it has to take Tomb Tainted Soul or some such to be able to heal themselves effectively. I WOULD say that it should be clarified to apply to casting from items as well, or that same cleric will just have a CLW wand and a few potions of higher level healing stuff for in-combat healing of themselves (the minions are disposable). You might also need to apply it to the Vigor line and a few other things to make the healing thing sufficiently painful, and it doesn't do nearly as much to nerf wizards(so only allow divine casters to take it?), but I think there is hope for it yet.

Angry Bob
2010-05-21, 07:57 PM
Right. You've a point about that. I'll fix that.

BLiZme.2
2010-05-25, 04:39 AM
On Left for dead do you mean? (Neither you nor your underlings may coup-de grace a worthy opponent.) as opposed to "Neither you nor your underlings may not coup-de grace a worthy opponent."?
Should The Bandit King have Shun the Light? (if not reference the Warlord not the mad wizard.
Also as to all 3 of the leadership score affecting class features did you mean to exclude bonuses from things like a strong hold good treatment renown ect because as wrote you have. If not maybe it should be something like you use your ranks in (skill)+ (new stat)+ standard bonsais (with this you can get at most +3 over default leadership{because you can only have 3 more ranks in a skill than your level and other skill boosts don’t add ranks})

paddyfool
2010-05-25, 05:43 AM
I reckon the "Mad Wizard" would make for a very fine cult leader, working off of a cleric base.

Jack of Spades
2010-05-25, 08:31 AM
A few quick notes:

Minion-shaped blind spot seems like it's standing on shaky ground, simply because it's an ability which is entirely reliant on the DM "activating" it. That's generally not a good thing.

Does my Bandit Lord sneak attack stack with my Rogue sneak attack? Specify!

It seems like the Bandit Lord could pick up a lot of random "worthy" opponents:

Random kid: *Ignoring apparent corpse* Hey look, a dagger!
Mother: Put that down! You'll take your eye out!
Kid: Pleeeeeeease? I'll be super careful! I promise!
Mother: Fine, but clean it off first.
*Several weeks later*
Bandit Lord: *Bursting through wall, armed to the teeth* MY ARCH-NEMESIS!
The same kid: BEST 8TH BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!
*Bandit Lord slaughters those in attendance, ironically giving the child motivation to go out and become a powerful hero*

DracoDei
2010-05-25, 11:11 AM
You still need to clarify "Shun the Light".

Also note that a 5th level Bandit King can technically teleport as a day-to-day utility thing (for instance to go fence some loot), just by getting a private room and laying on the bed. That could actually be kinda cool, but if you want to nerf it, you might want to specify some more conditions ("has taken damage from an enemy") and/or limit it to 1/week.

Angry Bob
2010-06-03, 11:13 AM
Sorry about that. I didn't notice people were still responding.

Issues:


You still need to clarify "Shun the Light".

Shun the light is still a Foible, and the Mad Wizard still loses his class abilities for 24 hours if he goes into the sunlight. This is the standard penalty for 'breaking' a foible. Clarified.


Does my Bandit Lord sneak attack stack with my Rogue sneak attack? Specify!

It does stack. Fixed.


Minion-shaped blind spot seems like it's standing on shaky ground, simply because it's an ability which is entirely reliant on the DM "activating" it. That's generally not a good thing.

"Please consult your DM before taking Minion-shaped Blind Spot."


Should The Bandit King have Shun the Light? (if not reference the Warlord not the mad wizard.

It references the Warlord class feature, so I think he only has the choices presented under the Warlord's selection of foibles. Should I just list the foibles available to each class?


Also note that a 5th level Bandit King can technically teleport as a day-to-day utility thing (for instance to go fence some loot), just by getting a private room and laying on the bed. That could actually be kinda cool, but if you want to nerf it, you might want to specify some more conditions ("has taken damage from an enemy") and/or limit it to 1/week.

It's already limited to once a week.


On Left for dead do you mean? (Neither you nor your underlings may coup-de grace a worthy opponent.) as opposed to "Neither you nor your underlings may not coup-de grace a worthy opponent."?

Fixed.


It seems like the Bandit Lord could pick up a lot of random "worthy" opponents:

Random kid: *Ignoring apparent corpse* Hey look, a dagger!
Mother: Put that down! You'll take your eye out!
Kid: Pleeeeeeease? I'll be super careful! I promise!
Mother: Fine, but clean it off first.
*Several weeks later*
Bandit Lord: *Bursting through wall, armed to the teeth* MY ARCH-NEMESIS!
The same kid: BEST 8TH BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!
*Bandit Lord slaughters those in attendance, ironically giving the child motivation to go out and become a powerful hero*

We in the business call this "working exactly as intended." We also call it awesome.

If there's still interest, and this doesn't get closed due to thread necromancy, I'll put up the mastermind sometime during the next few days.

DracoDei
2010-06-03, 01:37 PM
In the end it would be best to just list the foibles for each class... if you need to edit them and might forget to change ALL the places they appear, then you might want to wait until the last minute, but otherwise I would go for it.

Angry Bob
2010-06-03, 06:30 PM
Or just list the foibles in one place and list the names of the ones available in each class. - Done.

Also, I brought it up earlier but it must not have been noticed: the capstone abilities seem interchangeable. Should I have a similar list of capstone abilities for each class to choose from among? I feel like the warlord isn't the only one they could have 'never found the body' for, and jealous ghosts are pretty standard for defeated pirates as well as enemy wizards - perhaps even more so. Play dead would be unique to the Mastermind and Bandit King, though.

BLiZme.2
2010-06-09, 03:30 AM
This is very cool when is the last class going up?