PDA

View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class "Steel in the hand, and blood on the blade."



Magery
2015-01-21, 10:28 PM
Everyone knows swords are amazing. They can cut through anything with a single strike (especially if they're katanas), deflect bullets with sublime ease, and wielding one automatically makes you take a level in badass, even if you've never tried to use one before. No matter what world you're in, be it a land of martial artists, gunslingers, or the latest post-apocalyptic craze, the first rule of combat is always 'stay away from the sword'. Only the most foolish of foes believe they can survive the onslaught of even a half-competent sword-wielder, and they're soon proven wrong.

Sadly, that isn't quite how it works in D&D. So what if you've got a +5 Vorpal Longsword, or a pair of +1 Aptitude Kukris in the hands of a Warblade turned Disciple of Dispater? "Wings of Cover!" cries the Sorcerer--if he's even kind enough to let you get that close--as the Wizard watches on, laughing loudly enough that you can hear him even though he's jaunting on the Ethereal Plane. Not to mention how painful it can get when you run into a rogue with Darkstalker and what we in the business call 'A Fistful Of d6s'.

It's about time somebody changed that.

Not me, of course. But somebody.

However, I have prepared you a little something to tide you over until that glorious day.

Some know it as the sort of person who brings a sword to a gunfight, and walks away after. Others believe it to be nothing but an over-the-top attempt to turn Saeko Busujima into a class. And a confused, adorable few wonder why they have to deal with Yet Another Swordsage Variant.

But you?

You can call it the Blade Scholar.

Alignment: Any
Starting Gold: As Swordsage
Skill Points: 4 + INT
Hit Die: d10



Level
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Special
MK
MR
SK


1
+0
+0
+2
+0
Fast Movement (10’)
4
4
1


2
+1
+0
+3
+0
Steel In The Hand (Ability Modifier)
4
4
1


3
+2
+1
+3
+1
Flash Step (+1d6)
5
4
1


4
+3
+1
+4
+1
Blood On The Blade (Damage)
5
4
1


5
+3
+1
+4
+1
Flash Step (+1d6, +1 AC)
5
4
1


6
+4
+2
+5
+2
Fast Movement (20’)
6
5
2


7
+5
+2
+5
+2
Evasion
6
5
2


8
+6/+1
+2
+6
+2
Steel In The Hand (Deflect Arrows)
6
5
2


9
+6/+1
+3
+6
+3
Flash Step (+2d6, +1 AC)
7
5
2


10
+7/+2
+3
+7
+3
Blood On The Blade (Pounce)
7
5
2


11
+8/+3
+3
+7
+3
Fast Movement (30'), Flash Step (+2d6, +2 AC)
7
6
3


12
+9/+4
+4
+8
+4

8
6
3


13
+10/+5
+4
+8
+4
Improved Evasion
8
6
3


14
+10/+5
+4
+9
+4
Steel In The Hand (Deflect Spells)
8
6
3


15
+11/+6/+1
+5
+9
+5
Flash Step (+3d6, +2 AC)
9
6
3


16
+12/+7/+2
+5
+10
+5
Blood On The Blade (Maneuver Recovery)
9
7
4


17
+13/+8/+3
+5
+10
+5
Fast Movement (40'), Flash Step (+3d6, +3 AC)
9
7
4


18
+13/+8/+3
+6
+11
+6

10
7
4


19
+14/+9/+4
+6
+11
+6

10
7
4


20
+15/+10/+1
+6
+12
+6
Lightning Strikes Twice
10
7
4



Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Martial Lore (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str) and Tumble (Dex)

Weapon And Armour Proficiencies: A Blade Scholar is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armour, but not shields.

Manoeuvres Known: A Blade Scholar learns manoeuvres from the Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, and Tiger Claw disciplines. They ready, refresh, and recover their manoeuvres as Swordsages do, with the exception that they may recover all their expended manoeuvres with a full-round action. However, levels in the Blade Scholar class count as initiator levels only for manoeuvres granted by the class, as their manoeuvres are especially designed and modified to take into account their unique mastery over a blade (most other classes simply do not have the raw skill to perform a Blade Scholar’s martial manoeuvres).

At level 4, and every two levels thereafter, the Blade Scholar may swap out any manoeuvre they know for any other manoeuvre they are capable of learning. This follows the same rules, and functions in the same way, as the Swordsage’s ability to trade in manoeuvres.

In reference to the table, MK indicates Manoeuvres Known, MR indicates Manoeuvres Readied, and SK indicates Stances Known.

Fast Movement (Ex): At first level, all the Blade Scholar’s movement speeds (and any subsequent movement speeds they may gain) increase by 10’. At sixth, eleventh, and seventeenth level, this bonus increases by another 10’.

Steel In The Hand (Ex): At second level, as long as the Blade Scholar is wielding a melee weapon they are proficient with, they may add their Strength modifier to their AC, which also applies to their Touch AC. If they have the Weapon Finesse feat, and are wielding a weapon to which the feat applies, they may add their Dexterity modifier instead (this stacks with the standard Dexterity bonus to AC). The bonus may not exceed the number of Blade Scholar levels the character possesses.

At eighth level, as long as the Blade Scholar is wielding a melee weapon they are proficient with, they gain the benefit of the Deflect Arrows feat (using their weapon, as opposed to their hand), except that they may deflect a number of ranged projectiles per round equal to the number of attacks they make with a full-attack action.

At fourteenth level, as long as the Blade Scholar is wielding a melee weapon they are proficient with, they gain the ability to deflect spells. This ability functions in all ways like the Arcanopath Monk’s class feature of the same name, except that the Blade Scholar does not require a free hand (only a hand wielding a melee weapon they are proficient with), and that they may deflect a number of spells per round equal to the number of attacks they make with a full-attack action.

Bonuses from Steel In The Hand do not apply when the Blade Scholar is flat-footed, helpless, wearing medium or heavy armour, or using a shield.

For the purposes of this ability, only attacks gained from BAB, and not from feats such as the Two-Weapon Fighting chain, count as ‘attacks they make with a full-attack action’.

Flash Step (Ex): At third level, when the Blade Scholar moves ten feet or more in a round, they deal an extra 1d6 damage on a melee attack. At fifth level, when they move ten feet or more in a round, they also gain a +1 competence bonus to their Armour Class, which lasts until the beginning of their next turn. At levels 9 and 15 the bonus damage increases by a further 1d6; at levels 11 and 17, the competence bonus increases by +1.

As this bonus damage comes from the Blade Scholar's raw speed, it does not count as precision damage for the purposes of creature immunities, and can be multiplied on a critical hit.

This ability cannot be used while mounted, and does not apply if the Blade Scholar is wearing medium or heavy armour, or using a shield.

Blood On The Blade (Ex): At fourth level, the Blade Scholar can add their Dexterity modifier to damage with any melee weapons they are proficient with. This stacks with any bonus to damage they may gain from a high Strength score.

At tenth level, the Blade Scholar gains the Pounce special ability.

At sixteenth level, when the Blade Scholar makes a full-attack, they may recover all their expended manoeuvres. They cannot use any manoeuvres in conjunction with this ability, even if those manoeuvres grant full-attack actions (such as Time Stands Still).

Evasion (Ex): At seventh level, the Blade Scholar gains the benefits of Evasion.

At thirteenth level, this increases to Improved Evasion.

These abilities do not apply when the Blade Scholar is helpless, wearing medium or heavy armour, or using a shield.

Lightning Strikes Twice (Ex): At twentieth level, a number of times per day equal to their Dexterity modifier, the Blade Scholar may use two martial strikes in a single round. Following the use of this ability, the Blade Scholar may not use any other manoeuvres (other than remaining in a Stance) for 1d4+1 rounds.

Magery
2015-01-21, 10:30 PM
So, there we have it, my second homebrew class.

I'd appreciate any feedback you're willing to give me; I've had a few people look it over, but it's never been playtested and none of us are anywhere near omniscient, especially when it comes to D&D =P

Thank you!

RoyVG
2015-01-22, 04:27 AM
I'm going to make a looooot of comparrison to the Warblade, so stick with me :P

What strikes me immediately is the unusual 'Maneuvers Known' progression, 1 every 3 levels. This puts it behind the Warblade in terms of maneuvers known, which is the worst of all the original martial initiators. One extra known every 3 levels also makes for some wonky maneuver progression. Level 3 (= Level 2 maneuvers) you gain no extra known, and at level 4 you get one known AND can replace one. Level 3 feels like a dead level, and none of the martial initators have that. After that you have to wait until level 7, skipping 3rd level maneuvers entirely (Iron Heart Surge!), you wil have to replace one maneuver to get one, while a warblade at that point can have 2 level 3 maneuvers. You get no level 9 manuever until level 18 (again by switching), at which a Warblade can have 2. If I combine that with the fact that a Warblade has a waaay better recovery mechanic, it just feels like a weakened, almost crippled Warblade. He gets an ability that speeds things up, but that's not until level 16, by that time a Warblade has 3 maneuvers known more (not more readied) and he still recovers everything as a swift action.

The class features, while stronger than the Warblade in general, do not make up for the loss of hit die, BaB and especially maneuvers. Having only 2 disciplines compared to the Warblade's 5 (both of which he has as well) also does not help him at all, as it makes every Blade Scholar more the same character, while Warblades can have way more variety (One focusing on White Raven, one focusing on Tiger Claw, etc).

If I can be really rude, it feels like a warblade that wanted to be a swordsage, but just failed at everything with regards to maneuvers (Less manuevers known, less disciplines). I don't think it is on par with a Warblade in terms of strength and versatility. If this was never your intention and you wanted to make a class more in line with a Ranger or a Warlock, then leave it as it is.

What I would do is at least give him the same maneuvers known progression speed as a Warblade, so 1/2 levels. Because of the harsher recovery mechanic (compared to a Warblade), start out with 1 manuever known and 1 readied more, so 4/4/1, scaling to 14/7/4 at level 20 (MK/MR/SK). This gives him a small edge over the Warblade, but not as much as a Swordsage. Lastly, I would give him one more discipline to take advantage of this expanded pool of maneuvers. Which one, I will leave up to you. Maybe add a good Fort to the mix and call it a day.

Magery
2015-01-22, 09:18 PM
What strikes me immediately is the unusual 'Maneuvers Known' progression, 1 every 3 levels. This puts it behind the Warblade in terms of maneuvers known, which is the worst of all the original martial initiators. One extra known every 3 levels also makes for some wonky maneuver progression. Level 3 (= Level 2 maneuvers) you gain no extra known, and at level 4 you get one known AND can replace one. Level 3 feels like a dead level, and none of the martial initators have that. After that you have to wait until level 7, skipping 3rd level maneuvers entirely (Iron Heart Surge!), you wil have to replace one maneuver to get one, while a warblade at that point can have 2 level 3 maneuvers. You get no level 9 manuever until level 18 (again by switching), at which a Warblade can have 2. If I combine that with the fact that a Warblade has a waaay better recovery mechanic, it just feels like a weakened, almost crippled Warblade. He gets an ability that speeds things up, but that's not until level 16, by that time a Warblade has 3 maneuvers known more (not more readied) and he still recovers everything as a swift action.

The class features, while stronger than the Warblade in general, do not make up for the loss of hit die, BaB and especially maneuvers. Having only 2 disciplines compared to the Warblade's 5 (both of which he has as well) also does not help him at all, as it makes every Blade Scholar more the same character, while Warblades can have way more variety (One focusing on White Raven, one focusing on Tiger Claw, etc).

If I can be really rude, it feels like a warblade that wanted to be a swordsage, but just failed at everything with regards to maneuvers (Less manuevers known, less disciplines). I don't think it is on par with a Warblade in terms of strength and versatility. If this was never your intention and you wanted to make a class more in line with a Ranger or a Warlock, then leave it as it is.

What I would do is at least give him the same maneuvers known progression speed as a Warblade, so 1/2 levels. Because of the harsher recovery mechanic (compared to a Warblade), start out with 1 manuever known and 1 readied more, so 4/4/1, scaling to 14/7/4 at level 20 (MK/MR/SK). This gives him a small edge over the Warblade, but not as much as a Swordsage. Lastly, I would give him one more discipline to take advantage of this expanded pool of maneuvers. Which one, I will leave up to you. Maybe add a good Fort to the mix and call it a day.

I was intentionally trying not to give it a manoeuvre progression equal to that of a Warblade, because then you would have absolutely no reason to actually play a straight Warblade when a Blade Scholar would be better at almost everything a Warblade is good at as well as being able to no-sell most offensive spellcasting, and concurrently run a pretty dangerous charge build.

That said, I will be adding the Tiger Claw discipline, given that my level 6 test build had +40-something to jump by accident, improving the manoeuvres known and manoeuvres readied--though not to match the Warblade, as the Blade Scholar is not meant to be a better martial adept than actual martial adepts--and improving the hit dice from a d8 to a d10 (I would improve the Fort save, but it doesn't match the flavour of the class, in my head at any rate).

Thank you for the feedback; while perhaps not exactly what I wanted to hear, it was what I--and the Blade Scholar--needed =P

RoyVG
2015-01-23, 06:02 AM
I was intentionally trying not to give it a manoeuvre progression equal to that of a Warblade, because then you would have absolutely no reason to actually play a straight Warblade when a Blade Scholar would be better at almost everything a Warblade is good at as well as being able to no-sell most offensive spellcasting, and concurrently run a pretty dangerous charge build.

That said, I will be adding the Tiger Claw discipline, given that my level 6 test build had +40-something to jump by accident, improving the manoeuvres known and manoeuvres readied--though not to match the Warblade, as the Blade Scholar is not meant to be a better martial adept than actual martial adepts--and improving the hit dice from a d8 to a d10 (I would improve the Fort save, but it doesn't match the flavour of the class, in my head at any rate).

Thank you for the feedback; while perhaps not exactly what I wanted to hear, it was what I--and the Blade Scholar--needed =P

The thing is, Maneuvers progression is very difficult to balance against each other because of the consequences they have on the character. A swordsage has more maneuvers known than any other initiator (basically double the warblade at almost any given level) but they get a worst recovery mechanic to balance that out. A Crusader has a unique recovery mechanic that is based on luck as well as time so he has a quite generous progression. Your recovery mechanic of Full round action to recover everything is not bad, by any means, but for a martial initator that has less maneuvers than a Warblade who gets them back with no effort at all, then this class quickly loses momentum in a fight. You may have a have high movement speed but no way to use it when you are trying to recover your maneuvers. Giving him one more maneuver known and readied makes the loss of this momentum less severe and it happens less often. A round in which you are a sitting duck is not fun by any means and having to do that every 3 or so rounds even less. You could also think of a new unique recovery mechanic based on his high movement speed maybe? I don't know, I'm just throwing ideas around.

What all martial initators have in common is that they learn new maneuvers the first level they can, and with a 1/3 levesl progression that is impossible. That is the point I wanted to make, I'm not saying it's bad, I just found it a bit odd but if you want to stick to it, do it, it's your class.

That being said, what is exactly the goal of this class, because I can't really make it out from the class description at the top? What it looks to me is a class that mainly uses speed as a way to close the gap mainly to casters and ranged combatants faster than anyone else, while still having the posibility to use maneuvers after moving (which you cannot when you are charging) and shrugging off any attempts to stop him (Evasion, Deflect Arrows/Spells). It's a cool niche, that is not often used in the way you do (i think?), I'll give you that.

What kind of feedback were you looking for then, maybe I can help with that? If you feel somewhat offended by what I said now or previously, that was not my intention, I don't want to bash your class to the ground because I'm a Warblade fan or anything (which I'm not btw, Swordsage for life :P ). I was in te same boat with one of my homebrew classes once, one of the first comments was, "Why would I play this if I could play a warlock".

CinuzIta
2015-01-23, 08:59 AM
Well, I like this (as I've liked the Godsword)..I don't think if I would have played one before RoyVG's suggestions but now I definetly would!

I'd also add some movement related class feature (as a toned down skirmish) to encourage the player to make use of the class' mobility, but I'm not great in martial initiators class' balancing so I don't know if that would be too much!


I'm also curious to know what was that inspired this class!

Magery
2015-01-24, 01:54 AM
I'll answer the inspiration question first, since that might help explain things.

I had two reasons for designing this class. The first one is pretty profane: I'd just finished watching the first six or seven episodes of Highschool of the DEAD, and I fell in love with Saeko Busujima, so I had kick-ass swordmistresses on the brain.

The second is a little stranger: I wanted to make a swordsman who could survive in a world of guns (since one of the campaigns I'm in is a SCP/D&D hybrid, with a modern setting and modern firearms - for example, my current character is a Sniper, whose sniper rifle is a 10-20 x15 critical on between 2d10 and 4d10 damage depending on what bullets I use).

That's why Steel In The Hand has an improved version of Deflect Arrows, as well as Deflect Spells (and Evasion); Deflect Arrows is for projectiles you don't want hitting you, and Deflect Spells is because, even before you get it, a vaguely-optimised Psion can nuke down a 200+ HP character in one turn with something like Energy Missile (I know this from painful personal experience), effectively making them the magical equivalent of a firearm. That's why the Blade Scholar has Fast Movement, and why they gain Pounce; so that they can close the distance and actually bring the pain without having their body turned to mush.

In terms of ordinary D&D:


What it looks to me is a class that mainly uses speed as a way to close the gap mainly to casters and ranged combatants faster than anyone else, while still having the posibility to use maneuvers after moving (which you cannot when you are charging) and shrugging off any attempts to stop him (Evasion, Deflect Arrows/Spells). It's a cool niche, that is not often used in the way you do (i think?), I'll give you that.

Exactly that. Strike first, strike fast, strike hard. Sort of like Iaijutsu Master, except without the semi-crippling overspecialisation.

Which is why I'm going to add the limited skirmish progression suggested, since I must have been hit with a pretty nasty Mind Fog in order to forget about something as perfect for the Blade Scholar as that.


The thing is, Maneuvers progression is very difficult to balance against each other because of the consequences they have on the character. A swordsage has more maneuvers known than any other initiator (basically double the warblade at almost any given level) but they get a worst recovery mechanic to balance that out. A Crusader has a unique recovery mechanic that is based on luck as well as time so he has a quite generous progression. Your recovery mechanic of Full round action to recover everything is not bad, by any means, but for a martial initator that has less maneuvers than a Warblade who gets them back with no effort at all, then this class quickly loses momentum in a fight. You may have a have high movement speed but no way to use it when you are trying to recover your maneuvers. Giving him one more maneuver known and readied makes the loss of this momentum less severe and it happens less often. A round in which you are a sitting duck is not fun by any means and having to do that every 3 or so rounds even less. You could also think of a new unique recovery mechanic based on his high movement speed maybe? I don't know, I'm just throwing ideas around.

What all martial initators have in common is that they learn new maneuvers the first level they can, and with a 1/3 levesl progression that is impossible. That is the point I wanted to make, I'm not saying it's bad, I just found it a bit odd but if you want to stick to it, do it, it's your class.

The more I try to work on it, the more I understand what you mean about the difficulty; if I allow the Blade Scholar to learn a maneuver every second level, they have identical progression to the Warblade, and if I do that, is there really any point playing a Warblade?

Stone Dragon is only really good for the Mountain Hammer line (and for Mountain Tombstone Strike), which you can get through Martial Study, and White Raven is for White Raven Tactics, which, while fantastic, is not quite worth taking an entire class for. The other three schools, you get as a Blade Scholar, as well as Evasion, the ability to no-sell ranged attackers and some magical attackers, DEX to damage without Shadow Hand/Shadow Blade, Fast Movement, Pounce as a class feature (as opposed to dipping Lion Totem Barbarian, though really that's not a bad thing), and, eventually, the ability to recover maneuvers by attacking, and to stack two (like Time Stands Still and Strike of Perfect Clarity, say) in the same turn.

Saves don't matter that much when you have Diamond Mind recovery maneuvers and Iron Heart Surge, and considering you can just buy something like a Ring of Divine Power (I think the cheapest version is 10.8k, from what I've seen on these boards?) in order to get full BAB... would you really play a Warblade if you could play a Blade Scholar?

Considering I love Warblade (I love Tome of Battle in general, and I use Swordsage more, but there's something about Warblade I can't help but admire), I simply can't justify rendering it somewhat obsolete to myself.

And yet, I can very much see your point about effectively being reduced to single and full-attacks every x number of rounds until level 16. Which leads me to my question: is it any better starting out at 4/4/1 and maxing out at 10/7/4, as opposed to 3/3/1 and 9/6/4?


What kind of feedback were you looking for then, maybe I can help with that? If you feel somewhat offended by what I said now or previously, that was not my intention, I don't want to bash your class to the ground because I'm a Warblade fan or anything (which I'm not btw, Swordsage for life :P ). I was in te same boat with one of my homebrew classes once, one of the first comments was, "Why would I play this if I could play a warlock".

I was more commenting on the whole "I want everyone to love this because it's perfect out of the box" feeling I--and I think most other people, too--seem to get right after I've finished something, be it a story, a poem, or a D&D homebrew =P That's the difference, to me, between what I want, and what I need - I want what I've done to be the most amazing thing ever, and for everyone to 'recognise' that, but what I need is somebody telling me "okay, this is alright, buuuuuuut," or even "this is horrible because X, Y, and Z, but if you do A, B, and C, you can make it much better". There's no other way to improve.

Sure, I might have been a little offended at first, but that died in the hail of "what the hell are you doing Magery this is the best sort of feedback you could have gotten harden up and fix it." You'd think I'd be used to it by now, given how much creative writing I've done--and still do--over the years =P


Well, I like this (as I've liked the Godsword)..I don't think if I would have played one before RoyVG's suggestions but now I definetly would!

Ah, I'm glad to hear that XD

I enjoyed building the Godsword quite a lot, though I had waaaaaay too much fun naming its class features (and the completely pointless custom feat that's only there because I couldn't resist calling something that).

andreichekov
2015-01-24, 03:24 AM
Why does this class have a 3/4 base attack bonus?
You give the speech about hitting with a sword and striking true, and stuff, and then do that to them?

Its the same level of disappointment as how the monk, who spends his life training in martial arts every day, has a lower base attack bonus than the fighter who spends his time drinking and in tavern brawls.

Even if it is a balance thing, it thematically doesn't fit, and it really hurts this class actually looking like what you said it is.



One more thing, I thought of a new unique recovery mechanic. You recover all of your maneuvers as a swift action but lose -1 to your attack rolls for the rest of combat. This -1 stacks between each refresh.
This makes so that you can keep momentum, but as the fight goes on, you gradually get worse at hitting things.

Oh, and katanas are actually worse for cutting through things, and they are heavier than a typical european sword. Katanas cut because they are sharp. A typical european sword can cut through stuff when blunt, because the shape is better. Katanas are heavier because they don't have a blood runnel on them. European swords typically weighed in at 2-3 lbs. I'm talking about long one handed swords. Arming swords (two handers) were only vary rarely as much as 6 lbs, and never more than that.

CinuzIta
2015-01-24, 03:27 AM
Oh I see! To be honest, the class made me think of metal gear series' ninja cyborgs..you know: fast moving, deflecting bullets with the sword..but it might just be me playing too much metal gear rising/warframe lately! Good work nevertheless!

I'm also glam you liked my skirmish' suggestion! I hope I'm gonna see more of your works soon!

Magery
2015-01-24, 07:48 AM
Why does this class have a 3/4 base attack bonus?
You give the speech about hitting with a sword and striking true, and stuff, and then do that to them?

Its the same level of disappointment as how the monk, who spends his life training in martial arts every day, has a lower base attack bonus than the fighter who spends his time drinking and in tavern brawls.

Even if it is a balance thing, it thematically doesn't fit, and it really hurts this class actually looking like what you said it is.

A Swordsage does a pretty decent job of hitting things for a 3/4 BAB class (especially combined with maneuvers like those found in the Tiger Claw school), and if you really need full BAB, you can always just buy a Ring of Divine Power.

I agree it's not the most flavoursome option--I would like for the Blade Scholar to have full BAB--but sadly, some things do have to sacrificed in the name of balancing a class.


One more thing, I thought of a new unique recovery mechanic. You recover all of your maneuvers as a swift action but lose -1 to your attack rolls for the rest of combat. This -1 stacks between each refresh.
This makes so that you can keep momentum, but as the fight goes on, you gradually get worse at hitting things.

If an encounter is lasting long enough that you need to refresh all your maneuvers more than once (twice if it's a boss battle, perhaps), the party is doing something wrong =P

I can't actually see that as a true penalty; at worst, you might take -1 or -2 to-hit for the rest of the encounter; if that has a major effect on how often you hit your opponent, it's probably not the Blade Scholar's job to kill them (plus, I couldn't justify writing in that it would be a specific exception to Iron Heart Surge's ability to remove stuff like that).


Oh, and katanas are actually worse for cutting through things, and they are heavier than a typical european sword. Katanas cut because they are sharp. A typical european sword can cut through stuff when blunt, because the shape is better. Katanas are heavier because they don't have a blood runnel on them. European swords typically weighed in at 2-3 lbs. I'm talking about long one handed swords. Arming swords (two handers) were only vary rarely as much as 6 lbs, and never more than that.

...that line at the start was a joke about the whole "Katanas Are Just Better" trope =P


Oh I see! To be honest, the class made me think of metal gear series' ninja cyborgs..you know: fast moving, deflecting bullets with the sword..but it might just be me playing too much metal gear rising/warframe lately! Good work nevertheless!

I'm also glam you liked my skirmish' suggestion! I hope I'm gonna see more of your works soon!

I've never actually played Metal Gear, or Warframe for that matter, but I do know a little bit about Warframe (seen a video or two), and I can see where you're coming from with that comparison =P

Yeah; I can't believe I actually didn't think of adding Skirmish in the first place >.> Thanks for that!