eftexar
2012-01-02, 06:29 PM
Raven Commander (3.5)
Abilities: The Raven Commander's most important scores are strength, dexterity, and constitution. They allow him to contribute to melee better. Intelligence is the next most important score as it sets the DC of a few abilities and bonuses, as well as boosting skill points. And charisma is always helpful for increasing one's force of personality, which is a must have for someone in a command position.
Organization/History:The raven commanders are a new breed of commander bred specifically for leading dangerous missions that armies can't handle. They were founded by Drake Gavin, a Warblade who specialized in white raven maneuvers. He was said to have never have lost a battle while he was in command of his small personally trained squad, The Ravens.
Seeing his results on the field many of the warring kingdoms attempted to duplicate them, but finding a warrior with the same skill sets was impossible and training them was too difficult and took too long.
Drake Gavin, seeing the futility of this effort concluded that a new breed of fighter needed to be trained and one that was even more team oriented than his style of combat. He personally trained several of his countries best warriors, who were dubbed "Raven Commanders," by those who have survived encounters with them. Raven Commanders have insofar kept their identities secret from the public.
Raven Commanders are expected to handle missions the average solider can't and are expected to do so with numbers much smaller than usual. It isn't uncommon for a raven commander to be forced to fight opponents much stronger than himself, or even handle stealth or diplomatic missions undercover. They are kept out of the limelight and are expected to do things most soldiers would receive medals for, without so much as a pat on the back.
As of now, no raven commander has joined forces with another, but one can only imagine their combined prowess on the battlefield.
Alignment: A raven commander is commonly of chaotic bent, due to the nature of his command. He is expected to get his mission done, even if it breaks a few rules in the process. That is, as long as he doesn't get caught.
Religion: -
Background: All raven commanders begin their training under a veteran warrior, usually another raven commander.
Races: Humans are by fare the most common to join this class, if only because they usually have the largest kingdoms.
As such anyone not of human lineage that doesn't begin with levels in this class, may not pick up levels in this class without being trained by another raven commander.
Other Classes: Paladins usually begin with quite a bit of respect for raven commanders, though once they realize their moral code is 'flexible' tempers may flare. Some fighters will scoff at the raven commander for focusing on allied combat until they fight a raven commander in combat and find him just as capable.
Role: A raven commander is first and foremost a team player. While he is certainly a capable melee combatant, he doesn't truly shine until he begins directing his allies on the battlefield.
Class Features
Hit Die: d10
Starting Gold: As Fighter
Skills: Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points: 4 + Int mod (x 4 at first level)
{table=head]Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Stratagems
1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Insight, Cooperation, Hinder | -
2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Team Tactics (1), Awareness | -
3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Stratagems | 3
4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Tactical Maneuver | 3
5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Team Tactics (2) | 4
6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Commander's Boon | 4
7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Malleable Feat | 4
8th | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Tactical Maneuver | 5
9th | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Team Tactics (3) | 5
10th | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Commander's Boon | 5
11th | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Malleable Feat | 6
12th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Tactical Maneuver | 6
13th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Team Tactics (4) | 6
14th | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +9 | Commander's Boon | 7
15th | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +9 | Malleable Feat | 7
16th | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +10 | +10 | Tactical Maneuver | 7
17th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | Team Tactics (5) | 8
18th | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +11 | Commander's Boon | 8
19th | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +11 | Malleable Feat | 8
20th | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +12 | Tactical Maneuver | 9
[/table]
Weapons and Armor Proficiencies: The raven commander is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as light armor and shields (except tower).
Class Abilities
Lv1 > Insight:
While the commander doesn't have any particular knowledge of specific creatures memorized, he does have an eye for weak spots. He may make a spot check in place of any knowledge check needed to identify a creature or person. Instead of learning random information about the creature, he learns any 'weak points', if any, first.
This otherwise functions as the knowledge check to identify monsters (see knowledge skill).
Lv1 > Cooperation:
The commander may use the aid another action as a free action once per round, instead of as a standard action.
Additionally, whenever the commander uses the aid another action, he may affect an additional number of targets up to his intelligence modifier.
He may grant different bonuses to different allies and multiple bonuses to the same allies with aid another actions, but may not grant the same bonus to the same ally multiple times.
Lv1 > Hinder:
The commander may use the aid another action to instead penalize an opponent who is within his threatened range. This may be used in tandem with the cooperation ability. It may affect multiple targets, but counts towards his cooperation limit, and follows all rules derivitive of cooperation.
Lv2 > Team Tactics:
No more than once each day (after at least 4 hours of rest) the commander may choose a single feat he possesses. He may grant it's benefits to up to his intelligence modifier number of allies.
His allies needn't meet the prerequisites of these feats, although not having them may render the feat useless. They do, however, only receive benefits from this feat whilst the commander is conscious and within 100ft of them. They may not qualify for other feats with these feats.
At 5th level and every every 4 levels of raven commander he possesses beyond that, he may do this with an additional feat. All feats chosen must be granted to all allies (so he may not pick and choose).
Lv2 > Awareness:
The commander gains half his raven commander level to his initiative, listen checks, and spot checks. If he is incapacitated he does not receive these bonuses.
Furthermore he receives a dodge bonus to AC equal to his intelligence modifier. This AC bonus is penalized by armor penalties (to a minimum of +0). He does not receive the AC bonus against any attack if he is caught flatfooted or incapacitated.
Lv3 > Stratagems:
The commander has access to a limited number of special abilities in combat, called stratagems. At each indicated level he may choose a stratagem(s) that he meets the minimum raven commander level for. The DC for any stratagem is a DC of 10 + 1/2 his raven commander level + his intelligence modifier.
Anytime the commander initiates a stratagem, he gains his intelligence modifier as a bonus to hit for the initial strike involving it.
Lv4, 8, 12, 16, 20 > Tactical Maneuver:
At each indicated level the commander acquires the use of a single tactical feat that he qualifies for. He may ignore any prerequisite the feat has, unless such a prerequisite requires a previous feat to function.
Alternatively he may choose any single combat/fighter feat, but he must qualify for this feat as normal.
Lv6, 10, 14, 19 > Commander's Boon:
At each indicated level the commander may choose a single boon. Some boons grant benefits to the commander, but most don't.
Any ally within 30ft of him benefits from all boons he has chosen. His allies must be able to at least either see or hear him to gain these benefits.
Lv7, 11, 15, 19 > Malleable Feat:
At each level indicated the commander selects a single bonus feat. No more than once each day (after at least 4 hours of rest) the commander may swap these feats for other feats he qualifies for. While these feats may be used to qualify for other malleable feats, they do not count towards prerequisites for the commander's normal feats.
The commander does not, however, benefit from these feats. Instead he may grant these feats to his allies with his team tactics ability.
He may swap out any feat he has used to qualify for another feat as normal, but may not grant the benefits of that feat until he regains the qualifying feat.
Design Notes:
The idea for this class came to me when I was looking at the white raven discipline. And as much as I like the initiators, I've noticed some DMs just won't allow the use of initiators. But sometimes it is just nice to play a pure melee character without a supernatural bent.
Actually I was thinking about making a class based on each discipline. I think it would be rather neat to capture the idea of each one and fit it into a similar system. So that might be my next project.
This class is meant to be a ramped up fighter who relies on teamwork. Or at least truly shines when working with others. I'm hoping this makes a mid-tier 3 class. Actually I'm debating whether or not it would be fine to bump the BaB up to 20. It might also be a good idea to drop hit points since he can avoid a lot of attacks, but...
The history itself ties directly into a character I plan on playing for a campaign, with the founder of the raven commander's being my characters father.
Abilities: The Raven Commander's most important scores are strength, dexterity, and constitution. They allow him to contribute to melee better. Intelligence is the next most important score as it sets the DC of a few abilities and bonuses, as well as boosting skill points. And charisma is always helpful for increasing one's force of personality, which is a must have for someone in a command position.
Organization/History:The raven commanders are a new breed of commander bred specifically for leading dangerous missions that armies can't handle. They were founded by Drake Gavin, a Warblade who specialized in white raven maneuvers. He was said to have never have lost a battle while he was in command of his small personally trained squad, The Ravens.
Seeing his results on the field many of the warring kingdoms attempted to duplicate them, but finding a warrior with the same skill sets was impossible and training them was too difficult and took too long.
Drake Gavin, seeing the futility of this effort concluded that a new breed of fighter needed to be trained and one that was even more team oriented than his style of combat. He personally trained several of his countries best warriors, who were dubbed "Raven Commanders," by those who have survived encounters with them. Raven Commanders have insofar kept their identities secret from the public.
Raven Commanders are expected to handle missions the average solider can't and are expected to do so with numbers much smaller than usual. It isn't uncommon for a raven commander to be forced to fight opponents much stronger than himself, or even handle stealth or diplomatic missions undercover. They are kept out of the limelight and are expected to do things most soldiers would receive medals for, without so much as a pat on the back.
As of now, no raven commander has joined forces with another, but one can only imagine their combined prowess on the battlefield.
Alignment: A raven commander is commonly of chaotic bent, due to the nature of his command. He is expected to get his mission done, even if it breaks a few rules in the process. That is, as long as he doesn't get caught.
Religion: -
Background: All raven commanders begin their training under a veteran warrior, usually another raven commander.
Races: Humans are by fare the most common to join this class, if only because they usually have the largest kingdoms.
As such anyone not of human lineage that doesn't begin with levels in this class, may not pick up levels in this class without being trained by another raven commander.
Other Classes: Paladins usually begin with quite a bit of respect for raven commanders, though once they realize their moral code is 'flexible' tempers may flare. Some fighters will scoff at the raven commander for focusing on allied combat until they fight a raven commander in combat and find him just as capable.
Role: A raven commander is first and foremost a team player. While he is certainly a capable melee combatant, he doesn't truly shine until he begins directing his allies on the battlefield.
Class Features
Hit Die: d10
Starting Gold: As Fighter
Skills: Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points: 4 + Int mod (x 4 at first level)
{table=head]Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Stratagems
1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Insight, Cooperation, Hinder | -
2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Team Tactics (1), Awareness | -
3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Stratagems | 3
4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Tactical Maneuver | 3
5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Team Tactics (2) | 4
6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Commander's Boon | 4
7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Malleable Feat | 4
8th | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Tactical Maneuver | 5
9th | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Team Tactics (3) | 5
10th | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Commander's Boon | 5
11th | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Malleable Feat | 6
12th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Tactical Maneuver | 6
13th | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | Team Tactics (4) | 6
14th | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +9 | Commander's Boon | 7
15th | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +9 | Malleable Feat | 7
16th | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +10 | +10 | Tactical Maneuver | 7
17th | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | Team Tactics (5) | 8
18th | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +11 | Commander's Boon | 8
19th | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +11 | Malleable Feat | 8
20th | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +12 | Tactical Maneuver | 9
[/table]
Weapons and Armor Proficiencies: The raven commander is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as light armor and shields (except tower).
Class Abilities
Lv1 > Insight:
While the commander doesn't have any particular knowledge of specific creatures memorized, he does have an eye for weak spots. He may make a spot check in place of any knowledge check needed to identify a creature or person. Instead of learning random information about the creature, he learns any 'weak points', if any, first.
This otherwise functions as the knowledge check to identify monsters (see knowledge skill).
Lv1 > Cooperation:
The commander may use the aid another action as a free action once per round, instead of as a standard action.
Additionally, whenever the commander uses the aid another action, he may affect an additional number of targets up to his intelligence modifier.
He may grant different bonuses to different allies and multiple bonuses to the same allies with aid another actions, but may not grant the same bonus to the same ally multiple times.
Lv1 > Hinder:
The commander may use the aid another action to instead penalize an opponent who is within his threatened range. This may be used in tandem with the cooperation ability. It may affect multiple targets, but counts towards his cooperation limit, and follows all rules derivitive of cooperation.
Lv2 > Team Tactics:
No more than once each day (after at least 4 hours of rest) the commander may choose a single feat he possesses. He may grant it's benefits to up to his intelligence modifier number of allies.
His allies needn't meet the prerequisites of these feats, although not having them may render the feat useless. They do, however, only receive benefits from this feat whilst the commander is conscious and within 100ft of them. They may not qualify for other feats with these feats.
At 5th level and every every 4 levels of raven commander he possesses beyond that, he may do this with an additional feat. All feats chosen must be granted to all allies (so he may not pick and choose).
Lv2 > Awareness:
The commander gains half his raven commander level to his initiative, listen checks, and spot checks. If he is incapacitated he does not receive these bonuses.
Furthermore he receives a dodge bonus to AC equal to his intelligence modifier. This AC bonus is penalized by armor penalties (to a minimum of +0). He does not receive the AC bonus against any attack if he is caught flatfooted or incapacitated.
Lv3 > Stratagems:
The commander has access to a limited number of special abilities in combat, called stratagems. At each indicated level he may choose a stratagem(s) that he meets the minimum raven commander level for. The DC for any stratagem is a DC of 10 + 1/2 his raven commander level + his intelligence modifier.
Anytime the commander initiates a stratagem, he gains his intelligence modifier as a bonus to hit for the initial strike involving it.
Lv4, 8, 12, 16, 20 > Tactical Maneuver:
At each indicated level the commander acquires the use of a single tactical feat that he qualifies for. He may ignore any prerequisite the feat has, unless such a prerequisite requires a previous feat to function.
Alternatively he may choose any single combat/fighter feat, but he must qualify for this feat as normal.
Lv6, 10, 14, 19 > Commander's Boon:
At each indicated level the commander may choose a single boon. Some boons grant benefits to the commander, but most don't.
Any ally within 30ft of him benefits from all boons he has chosen. His allies must be able to at least either see or hear him to gain these benefits.
Lv7, 11, 15, 19 > Malleable Feat:
At each level indicated the commander selects a single bonus feat. No more than once each day (after at least 4 hours of rest) the commander may swap these feats for other feats he qualifies for. While these feats may be used to qualify for other malleable feats, they do not count towards prerequisites for the commander's normal feats.
The commander does not, however, benefit from these feats. Instead he may grant these feats to his allies with his team tactics ability.
He may swap out any feat he has used to qualify for another feat as normal, but may not grant the benefits of that feat until he regains the qualifying feat.
Design Notes:
The idea for this class came to me when I was looking at the white raven discipline. And as much as I like the initiators, I've noticed some DMs just won't allow the use of initiators. But sometimes it is just nice to play a pure melee character without a supernatural bent.
Actually I was thinking about making a class based on each discipline. I think it would be rather neat to capture the idea of each one and fit it into a similar system. So that might be my next project.
This class is meant to be a ramped up fighter who relies on teamwork. Or at least truly shines when working with others. I'm hoping this makes a mid-tier 3 class. Actually I'm debating whether or not it would be fine to bump the BaB up to 20. It might also be a good idea to drop hit points since he can avoid a lot of attacks, but...
The history itself ties directly into a character I plan on playing for a campaign, with the founder of the raven commander's being my characters father.