Yakk
2010-07-23, 03:33 PM
This is an attempt to "finish" the essential preview knight. Some of the features I ended up having to shovel into the class are pretty powerful, and I might not have properly accounted for all kinds of power.
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Many parts copied verbatim from http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.aspx?x=dnd/dramp/20100723 , which is publicly accessable, for ease of reading this version.
Yakk's Knight
CLASS TRAITS
Hit Points: You start with hit points equal to 15 + your Constitution score. You gain 6 hit points each time you gain a level.
Bonus to Defenses: +2 to Fortitude
Healing Surges per Day: 9 + your Constitution modifier
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide, chainmail, scale, plate; light shield, heavy shield
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, military melee, simple ranged, military ranged
Class Skills: Athletics (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Endurance (Con), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha)
Trained Skills: Three from the list of class skills
Features
Level 1:
Defender Aura:
You gain the Defender Aura power.
Defender Aura + Fighter Utility
You work to occupy nearby foes using a combination of fighting skill and clever tactics to keep them distracted.
At-Will + Martial, Aura
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You activate an aura 1 that lasts until you end it as a minor action or until you fall unconscious. While in the aura, any enemy takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls when it makes an attack that does not include among its targets either you or an ally of yours who has this aura active. Marked enemies are not subject to this aura.
Battle Guardian:
You gain the Battle Guardian power.
Battle Guardian + Fighter Attack
If an opponent ignores you, they will be punished.
At-Will + Martial
Immediate Interrupt + Personal
Trigger: An opponent shifts, moves or makes an attack that does not include you (or another player using a defender aura) while under the effect of your Defender Aura. You may not use this power and an opportunity action on the same trigger.
Effect: Make a basic melee attack against the target. If it succeeds and the power was triggered by a move that is not a shift, the move action is ended. If the power was triggered by a shift, you may shift 1 square into the square the target leaves after the shift completes.
Remember that you only get 1 immediate action per round.
Weapon Talent:
When attacking with a melee weapon and wielding a shield, you gain a +1 bonus to your attack rolls.
Shield Finess:
Enemies flanking you do not gain the +2 bonus to hit you from combat advantage, although they still gain any other benefits.
Power Strike:
You gain the power strike encounter exploit:
Power Strike + Fighter Attack
By pushing yourself beyond your normal limits, you unleash your full wrath against a foe.
Encounter + Martial, Weapon
Free Action + Personal
Trigger: You hit an enemy with a melee basic attack using a weapon.
Target: The enemy you hit.
Effect: The target takes 1[W] extra damage from the triggering attack.
Fighter Stances:
Select two fighter stances from the following list of level 1 fighter at-will stances:
Battle Wrath + Fighter Utility
You channel your anger into each strike, dealing devastating damage to your foes.
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the battle wrath stance. Until the stance ends, you gain a +2 power bonus to the damage rolls of basic attacks using a weapon.
Cleaving Assault + Fighter Utility
Your wide, sweeping attacks carry through to let you lash out at another nearby foe.
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the cleaving assault stance. Until the stance ends, whenever you hit with a melee basic attack using a weapon, one enemy adjacent to you other than the target of that attack takes damage equal to your Constitution modifier.
Certainty of Blades + Fighter Utility
Accuracy is sometimes more important than power
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the certainty of blades stance. Until the stance ends, whenever you make a melee basic attack you roll to attack twice and take either result. Unless both attack rolls hit the target, your damage from your basic melee attacks is halved.
Unstoppable Advance + Fighter Utility
Nothing can stand in your way
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the unstoppable advance stance. Until the stance ends, if your melee basic attack roll beats the targets fortitude defence, you push the target 1 square and may shift 1 square into into a square you pushed them out of. On a critical hit, they are knocked prone.
Luring Strikes + Fighter Utility
With the right positioning, battle is won
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the Luring Strikes stance. Until the stance ends, if a melee basic attack roll beats the targets will defence, you may shift 1 square and side the target 1 square into the square you have left.
Harrying Strikes + Fighter Utility
You have him right where you want him
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the Harrying Strikes stance. Until the stance ends, if a melee basic attack roll beats the targets reflex defence, the target is slowed and cannot shift until the end of your next turn.
Turtle + Fighter Utility
If they cannot kill you, you win
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Requirement: You must be using a shield.
Effect: You assume the Turtle stance. Until the stance ends, when you hit with a melee basic attack you gain resistance to all damage equal to your constitution modifier until the end of your next turn. At level 11, increase this to constitution modifier +5, and at level 21 to constitution modifier +10.
Aggressive + Fighter Utility
The best defense is to have nobody left to attack you
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the Aggressive stance. Until the stance ends, you have a +2 power bonus to melee basic attack rolls. You grant combat advantage to all opponents while under the Aggressive stance.
Special: If you are using an axe, hammer or mace, you also deal additional damage equal to your constitution modifier when you hit with melee basic attacks under this stance.
Level 2:
Gain a level 2 fighter utility power.
Level 3:
Improved Power Strike:
Replace your Power Strike power with the Improved Power Strike power. You may use Improved Power Strike twice per encounter.
Improved Power Strike + Fighter Attack
By pushing yourself beyond your normal limits, you unleash your full wrath against a foe.
Encounter + Martial, Weapon
Free Action + Personal
Trigger: You hit an enemy with a melee basic attack using a weapon.
Target: The enemy you hit.
Effect: The target takes 1[W]+Strength extra damage from the triggering attack.
Level 4:
Combat Readiness:
Once per encounter, you may activate a stance power that usually takes a minor action as a free action, even when it isn't your turn. You may not do this in the middle of an attack so that two stances apply to different parts of the attack.
Level 5:
Weapon Mastery:
When using a shield in one hand, your attacks with melee weapons score a critical hit on a 19-20 instead of just on a 20.
Level 6:
Gain a level 6 or level 2 fighter utility power.
Level 7
Extra fighter stance:
Gain an additional level 1 fighter stance.
Weapon specialization:
Your basic attacks deal an additional [W] damage when you are wielding a shield.
Level 8:
Shield Block:
Gain the Shield Block power.
Shield Block + Fighter Attack
You quickly block an attack with your shield
At-Will + Martial, Weapon
Immediate Interrupt + Melee 1
Requirement: You must be using a shield.
Trigger: An opponent adjacent to you makes an attack, or an opponent attacks you or an ally adjacent to you.
Effect: Make a basic melee attack with a target number equal to the opponents attack roll. If you defeat the opponents attack roll, roll for damage and reduce the opponents damage by your damage roll. This power does not deal damage, it just prevents it.
Remember that you only get 1 immediate action per round.
Level 9:
Greater Combat Readiness:
You may now have two at-will fighter stances active at once, or one fighter at-will stance and another stance that is not.
Level 10:
Gain a level 2, 6 or 10 fighter utility power.
---
"Balancing mathematics"
I'm going to use normalized damage per round over the first 4 rounds of combat. That is damage per round, divided by (level+3). (monster and player HP roughly scales with level+3)
The character will be using a longsword and shield at level 1.
The weapons enhancement bonus will reach +1 at level 2 and +2 at level 7.
The weapon will be upgraded to a bastard sword at level 4.
Strength bonus will be +4, increasing to +5 at level 8.
Off-stat stat bonuses will be +3, increasing to +4 at level 8.
Crit will be 1d8 per +1.
Enemy AC will be level+14, and non-AC defences level+12.
Feats are "worth" as much as +1 damage per feat (ie, I assume weapon focus is balanced). This is my weakest link -- weapon expertise, for example, is better (as will other accuracy boosts...)
Level nDPR [W] #[W] c[W] Str Enh Crit C%+H% C% Stnc #Stnc Feats DMG BA DPR Enc DP4R nDPR
1 4 4.5 1 8 +4 +0 0 55% 5% 1.5 1 1 1 6.23 4.5 29.22 1.83
2 5 4.5 1 8 +4 +1 4.5 55% 5% 1.5 1 2 2 7.55 4.5 34.52 1.73
3 6 4.5 1 8 +4 +1 4.5 55% 5% 1.5 1 2 2 7.55 17 46.5 1.94
4 7 5.5 1 10 +4 +1 4.5 55% 5% 1.5 1 3 3 8.7 19 53.02 1.89
5 8 5.5 1 10 +4 +1 4.5 55% 10% 1.5 1 3 3 9.15 19 54.82 1.71
6 9 5.5 1 10 +4 +1 4.5 55% 10% 1.5 1 4 4 9.7 19 57.02 1.58
7 10 5.5 1 10 +4 +2 9 55% 10% 1.5 1 4 4 10.7 19 61.02 1.53
8 11 5.5 2 10 +5 +2 9 55% 10% 2 1 5 5 15.55 21 82.34 1.87
9 12 5.5 2 10 +5 +2 9 55% 10% 2 2 5 5 15.55 21 82.34 1.72
10 13 5.5 2 10 +5 +2 9 55% 10% 2 2 6 6 16.1 21 84.54 1.63
As you can see, even with all of the above features, nDPR doesn't go off the charts. It stays pretty steady.
Which means it takes roughly as long to kill a level 1 target one-on-one as it does to kill a level 8 one-on-one at the same level.
However, I suspect that you can build a quite playable Knight out of the above rules, if you wanted to try one out.
Second, note that I didn't try to break the class open. If you try to break it open, the above proto-Knight will break.
Feel free to try it, or tear it apart.
I found it impressive exactly how much 'room' I had to give to at-will fighter powers. The 2[W] at will level isn't even the classes peak power level (that is at level 3)!
Any bugs? Can you make a ridiculously broken build/combo using the above?
-----
Many parts copied verbatim from http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.aspx?x=dnd/dramp/20100723 , which is publicly accessable, for ease of reading this version.
Yakk's Knight
CLASS TRAITS
Hit Points: You start with hit points equal to 15 + your Constitution score. You gain 6 hit points each time you gain a level.
Bonus to Defenses: +2 to Fortitude
Healing Surges per Day: 9 + your Constitution modifier
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide, chainmail, scale, plate; light shield, heavy shield
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, military melee, simple ranged, military ranged
Class Skills: Athletics (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Endurance (Con), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha)
Trained Skills: Three from the list of class skills
Features
Level 1:
Defender Aura:
You gain the Defender Aura power.
Defender Aura + Fighter Utility
You work to occupy nearby foes using a combination of fighting skill and clever tactics to keep them distracted.
At-Will + Martial, Aura
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You activate an aura 1 that lasts until you end it as a minor action or until you fall unconscious. While in the aura, any enemy takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls when it makes an attack that does not include among its targets either you or an ally of yours who has this aura active. Marked enemies are not subject to this aura.
Battle Guardian:
You gain the Battle Guardian power.
Battle Guardian + Fighter Attack
If an opponent ignores you, they will be punished.
At-Will + Martial
Immediate Interrupt + Personal
Trigger: An opponent shifts, moves or makes an attack that does not include you (or another player using a defender aura) while under the effect of your Defender Aura. You may not use this power and an opportunity action on the same trigger.
Effect: Make a basic melee attack against the target. If it succeeds and the power was triggered by a move that is not a shift, the move action is ended. If the power was triggered by a shift, you may shift 1 square into the square the target leaves after the shift completes.
Remember that you only get 1 immediate action per round.
Weapon Talent:
When attacking with a melee weapon and wielding a shield, you gain a +1 bonus to your attack rolls.
Shield Finess:
Enemies flanking you do not gain the +2 bonus to hit you from combat advantage, although they still gain any other benefits.
Power Strike:
You gain the power strike encounter exploit:
Power Strike + Fighter Attack
By pushing yourself beyond your normal limits, you unleash your full wrath against a foe.
Encounter + Martial, Weapon
Free Action + Personal
Trigger: You hit an enemy with a melee basic attack using a weapon.
Target: The enemy you hit.
Effect: The target takes 1[W] extra damage from the triggering attack.
Fighter Stances:
Select two fighter stances from the following list of level 1 fighter at-will stances:
Battle Wrath + Fighter Utility
You channel your anger into each strike, dealing devastating damage to your foes.
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the battle wrath stance. Until the stance ends, you gain a +2 power bonus to the damage rolls of basic attacks using a weapon.
Cleaving Assault + Fighter Utility
Your wide, sweeping attacks carry through to let you lash out at another nearby foe.
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the cleaving assault stance. Until the stance ends, whenever you hit with a melee basic attack using a weapon, one enemy adjacent to you other than the target of that attack takes damage equal to your Constitution modifier.
Certainty of Blades + Fighter Utility
Accuracy is sometimes more important than power
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the certainty of blades stance. Until the stance ends, whenever you make a melee basic attack you roll to attack twice and take either result. Unless both attack rolls hit the target, your damage from your basic melee attacks is halved.
Unstoppable Advance + Fighter Utility
Nothing can stand in your way
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the unstoppable advance stance. Until the stance ends, if your melee basic attack roll beats the targets fortitude defence, you push the target 1 square and may shift 1 square into into a square you pushed them out of. On a critical hit, they are knocked prone.
Luring Strikes + Fighter Utility
With the right positioning, battle is won
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the Luring Strikes stance. Until the stance ends, if a melee basic attack roll beats the targets will defence, you may shift 1 square and side the target 1 square into the square you have left.
Harrying Strikes + Fighter Utility
You have him right where you want him
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the Harrying Strikes stance. Until the stance ends, if a melee basic attack roll beats the targets reflex defence, the target is slowed and cannot shift until the end of your next turn.
Turtle + Fighter Utility
If they cannot kill you, you win
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Requirement: You must be using a shield.
Effect: You assume the Turtle stance. Until the stance ends, when you hit with a melee basic attack you gain resistance to all damage equal to your constitution modifier until the end of your next turn. At level 11, increase this to constitution modifier +5, and at level 21 to constitution modifier +10.
Aggressive + Fighter Utility
The best defense is to have nobody left to attack you
At-Will + Martial, Stance
Minor Action + Personal
Effect: You assume the Aggressive stance. Until the stance ends, you have a +2 power bonus to melee basic attack rolls. You grant combat advantage to all opponents while under the Aggressive stance.
Special: If you are using an axe, hammer or mace, you also deal additional damage equal to your constitution modifier when you hit with melee basic attacks under this stance.
Level 2:
Gain a level 2 fighter utility power.
Level 3:
Improved Power Strike:
Replace your Power Strike power with the Improved Power Strike power. You may use Improved Power Strike twice per encounter.
Improved Power Strike + Fighter Attack
By pushing yourself beyond your normal limits, you unleash your full wrath against a foe.
Encounter + Martial, Weapon
Free Action + Personal
Trigger: You hit an enemy with a melee basic attack using a weapon.
Target: The enemy you hit.
Effect: The target takes 1[W]+Strength extra damage from the triggering attack.
Level 4:
Combat Readiness:
Once per encounter, you may activate a stance power that usually takes a minor action as a free action, even when it isn't your turn. You may not do this in the middle of an attack so that two stances apply to different parts of the attack.
Level 5:
Weapon Mastery:
When using a shield in one hand, your attacks with melee weapons score a critical hit on a 19-20 instead of just on a 20.
Level 6:
Gain a level 6 or level 2 fighter utility power.
Level 7
Extra fighter stance:
Gain an additional level 1 fighter stance.
Weapon specialization:
Your basic attacks deal an additional [W] damage when you are wielding a shield.
Level 8:
Shield Block:
Gain the Shield Block power.
Shield Block + Fighter Attack
You quickly block an attack with your shield
At-Will + Martial, Weapon
Immediate Interrupt + Melee 1
Requirement: You must be using a shield.
Trigger: An opponent adjacent to you makes an attack, or an opponent attacks you or an ally adjacent to you.
Effect: Make a basic melee attack with a target number equal to the opponents attack roll. If you defeat the opponents attack roll, roll for damage and reduce the opponents damage by your damage roll. This power does not deal damage, it just prevents it.
Remember that you only get 1 immediate action per round.
Level 9:
Greater Combat Readiness:
You may now have two at-will fighter stances active at once, or one fighter at-will stance and another stance that is not.
Level 10:
Gain a level 2, 6 or 10 fighter utility power.
---
"Balancing mathematics"
I'm going to use normalized damage per round over the first 4 rounds of combat. That is damage per round, divided by (level+3). (monster and player HP roughly scales with level+3)
The character will be using a longsword and shield at level 1.
The weapons enhancement bonus will reach +1 at level 2 and +2 at level 7.
The weapon will be upgraded to a bastard sword at level 4.
Strength bonus will be +4, increasing to +5 at level 8.
Off-stat stat bonuses will be +3, increasing to +4 at level 8.
Crit will be 1d8 per +1.
Enemy AC will be level+14, and non-AC defences level+12.
Feats are "worth" as much as +1 damage per feat (ie, I assume weapon focus is balanced). This is my weakest link -- weapon expertise, for example, is better (as will other accuracy boosts...)
Level nDPR [W] #[W] c[W] Str Enh Crit C%+H% C% Stnc #Stnc Feats DMG BA DPR Enc DP4R nDPR
1 4 4.5 1 8 +4 +0 0 55% 5% 1.5 1 1 1 6.23 4.5 29.22 1.83
2 5 4.5 1 8 +4 +1 4.5 55% 5% 1.5 1 2 2 7.55 4.5 34.52 1.73
3 6 4.5 1 8 +4 +1 4.5 55% 5% 1.5 1 2 2 7.55 17 46.5 1.94
4 7 5.5 1 10 +4 +1 4.5 55% 5% 1.5 1 3 3 8.7 19 53.02 1.89
5 8 5.5 1 10 +4 +1 4.5 55% 10% 1.5 1 3 3 9.15 19 54.82 1.71
6 9 5.5 1 10 +4 +1 4.5 55% 10% 1.5 1 4 4 9.7 19 57.02 1.58
7 10 5.5 1 10 +4 +2 9 55% 10% 1.5 1 4 4 10.7 19 61.02 1.53
8 11 5.5 2 10 +5 +2 9 55% 10% 2 1 5 5 15.55 21 82.34 1.87
9 12 5.5 2 10 +5 +2 9 55% 10% 2 2 5 5 15.55 21 82.34 1.72
10 13 5.5 2 10 +5 +2 9 55% 10% 2 2 6 6 16.1 21 84.54 1.63
As you can see, even with all of the above features, nDPR doesn't go off the charts. It stays pretty steady.
Which means it takes roughly as long to kill a level 1 target one-on-one as it does to kill a level 8 one-on-one at the same level.
However, I suspect that you can build a quite playable Knight out of the above rules, if you wanted to try one out.
Second, note that I didn't try to break the class open. If you try to break it open, the above proto-Knight will break.
Feel free to try it, or tear it apart.
I found it impressive exactly how much 'room' I had to give to at-will fighter powers. The 2[W] at will level isn't even the classes peak power level (that is at level 3)!
Any bugs? Can you make a ridiculously broken build/combo using the above?