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View Full Version : Harrison Ford would be proud... [Base Class]



Maerok
2007-04-12, 08:08 PM
Explorer
"Dun duh dun dun, dun duh duhhh..."

http://images.replacements.com/images/images5/china/C/delphi_indiana_jones_with_box_P0000013338S0001T2.j pg

There are those who take the fight not only to those who stand in the face of their goals, but to the environment itself. Explorers are those rare few who are born adventurers; even as children, they blazed trails through the woods and could survive on their own. With age and experience, they continue on these quests to test their body and mind, pushing themselves to the limit with every encounter with death. When a problem arises, the never avoid it and forge ahead despite all odds. Some call it suicide, but they call it another day on the job. Tales of their epic journeys have gone on to romanticize this brave profession.

They are the explorers!

<hr>

Abilities: The most useful attributes to an explorer is Intelligence, for skills, Constitution, for stalwart fortitude, Dexterity, for death-defying reflexes, and Wisdom, for stubborn willpower. They are survivors, and focus on perfecting their defenses before going on the attack.

Races: Humans are by far the most daring of the races, and thus they are more prone to take on such a dangerous profession. Half-orcs also become explorers to prove their worth as rugged pioneers. Smaller races are also prone to becoming explorers for their agile nature and ability to reach small places easily. Elves generally stay away from this class, seeing such recklessness as wasteful.

Alignment: Explorers are usually chaotic in nature as they seek to follow their own path through life, wherever that may take them. A great deal of discipline also steers them to a lawful disposition.

<hr>

HD: d8

Skills: Climb, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Heal, Jump, Know (architecture), Know (dungeoneering), Know (geography), Know (history), Know (local), Know (the planes), Open Lock, Ride, Search, Spot, Survival, Swim, Tumble, and Use Rope.
Skills Points: 6 + Int Modifier

Starting Gold: As fighter.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0
|
+2
|
+2
|
+0
|Bonus Feat; Trapfinding; Trapsense 1

2nd|
+1
|
+3
|
+3
|
+0
|Evasion; Unerring Direction

3rd|
+2
|
+3
|
+3
|
+1
|Bonus Feat

4th|
+3
|
+4
|
+4
|
+1
|Trap Sense 2; Uncanny Dodge

5th|
+3
|
+4
|
+4
|
+1
|Danger Skills; Darkvision 30 feet

6th|
+4
|
+5
|
+5
|
+2
|Improved Uncanny Dodge; Bonus Feat

7th|
+5
|
+5
|
+5
|
+2
|Trap Sense 3

8th|
+6/+1
|
+6
|
+6
|
+2
|In the Face of Death +2

9th|
+6/+1
|
+6
|
+6
|
+3
|Bonus Feat; Improved Evasion

10th|
+7/+2
|
+7
|
+7
|
+3
|Danger Skills; Trap Sense 4; Darkvision 60 feet

11th|
+8/+3
|
+7
|
+7
|
+3
|Impromptu Crafting

12th|
+9/+4
|
+8
|
+8
|
+4
|Bonus Feat

13th|
+9/+4
|
+8
|
+8
|
+4
|Trap Sense 5

14th|
+10/+5
|
+9
|
+9
|
+4
|Planar Trekker

15th|
+11/+6/+1
|
+9
|
+9
|
+5
|Danger Skills; Bonus Feat; Low-light Vision

16th|
+12/+7/+2
|
+10
|
+10
|
+5
|Trap Sense 6; Master of Terrains

17th|
+12/+7/+2
|
+10
|
+10
|
+5
|Lore of Exploration

18th|
+13/+8/+3
|
+11
|
+11
|
+6
|Bonus Feat; In the Face of Death +4

19th|
+14/+9/+4
|
+11
|
+11
|
+6
|Trap Sense 7

20th|
+15/+10/+5
|
+12
|
+12
|
+6
|Danger Skills; Blindsight 30 feet[/table]

Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An explorer is skilled in the use of all martial weapons and simple weapons as well as one exotic weapon. He can wear light and medium armor, and all shields (barring tower shields).

Danger Skills: Whenever an explorer gains Danger Skills, he chooses one of his Explorer class skills; he may use them in even the most adverse conditions to take 10.

Trapfinding: An explorer is capable of finding traps with little difficult. He gains the trapfinding ability as a rogue.

Trapsense: The explorer gains the listed bonus to Reflex throws and AC bonuses when dealing with a trap. This bonus stacks with other such bonuses, such as with a barbarian.

Unerring Direction: An explorer always knows which way is north and can maintain his bearing in dungeons of his home plane. He also knows, in his gut, what time it is on the Material Plane at any instance, even if he is in another plane.

Bonus Feat: Every three levels, the explorer may choose one of the following feats to gain: Endurance, Diehard, Run, Track, Skill Focus (Any Explorer Class Skill), Combat Expertise, Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, or Improved Initiative. An explorer does not need to meet the prerequisites for any feat taken as a bonus feat.

Darkvision: At fifth level, an explorer gains darkvision out to 30 feet. At tenth level, he gains darkvision out to 60 feet.

In the Face of Death: When making an explorer class skill check that would lead to death or grave danger if failed, the explorer gains the listed bonus. An additional +1 bonus is applied to any skill he has Danger Skills with.

Impromptu Crafting: The explorer may create any item from the Adventuring Gear (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#adventuringGear) section worth less than or equal to twice his class level. He spends twice the cost of the item in raw materials and must spend at least one minute per 1 gp to create it (to a minimum of 1 minute). The object lasts, before breaking into worthless pieces, for half an hour or a full hour if he spends twice as long on it.

Planar Trekker: The explorer never becomes lost in extraplanar locales, and always has his bearing of which way is which (whether its north, south, east, west, up, down, or any other way). He gains the Aligned and Weightless planar traits of the Horizon Walker prestige class.

Low-light Vision: At level 15, the explorer gains low-light vision, seeing four times as far as a human in low-light conditions and sees as well as an elf when determining color.

Master of Terrains: The explorer may swim and climb at his base land speed. He must hold his breath while swimming, however. No creature gains any bonus against him due to their connection with the land, such as Earth Mastery.

Lore of Exploration (Su): When finding information on a specific dungeon or place of antiquity, the explorer automatically knows any information up to and including what a DC 30 bardic lore attempt could have found. This supernatural information only appears when he steps inside the area and leaves as soon as he exits.

Blindsight: On the twentieth level, an explorer gains blindsight out to 30 feet.

DaMullet
2007-04-12, 08:16 PM
Well, just a few formatting issues, in each entry you ought to put, "At level X, an Explorer gains ability Y." That way you don't need to keep referring to the table to get the info. Also, you don't need to say "like a rogue" all the time. It's useless in your Evasion, especially considering you already said it stacks with Rogue's evasion.

Finally, do Explorers need to meet the prerequisites for their bonus feats, or are they really Bonus? If they are, I can't imagine anyone taking Endurance. Just skip right to Diehard.

Maerok
2007-04-12, 08:20 PM
True bonus feats. But you might need Endurance to qualify for Horizon Walker, if you choose to go that way.

DaMullet
2007-04-12, 08:22 PM
In that case, you ought to put in, "An Explorer does not need to meet the prerequisites for any feat taken as a bonus feat." Or an equivalent line.

Maerok
2007-04-12, 08:26 PM
Okay, I've updated the class features list.

Maldraugedhen
2007-04-12, 08:28 PM
Does walking onto a plane with a different time flow, and/or any other magical ways to affect time flow, throw off the ability to automatically know the time?

Innis Cabal
2007-04-12, 08:31 PM
interesting...not something i would play but well put togather

Maerok
2007-04-12, 08:35 PM
Thanks for the responses.

Umm, I'm not sure how messing with time should affect an explorer... Maybe they just know the exact time of the Material Plane, even if they happen to travel outside of it. This would help in timing one's travel through the planes...

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2007-04-12, 08:57 PM
Hee

Awesome: At level 1, this class gets an A+


There sould be an ability that allows you to break your fall. On, say, oh, i dunno, (what are those shop canvas things called?)

Rama_Lei
2007-04-12, 09:01 PM
Um, why no Knowledge (the one that has dungeons)?

Maerok
2007-04-12, 09:01 PM
Because I forgot. :D

Falrin
2007-04-12, 09:45 PM
Why not give him knowledge (any) ? Royalties for looting; nature for those walks to the tombs, ...


Also I lmove the 'proficienty with one exotic weapon' touch.

Maldraugedhen
2007-04-12, 09:53 PM
That might be a bit much. Maybe something similar to Bardic Lore instead, as they'd have similar situations in how they amass knowledge--by doing.

Matthew
2007-04-13, 07:10 PM
Looks good. I would have thought 1D8 Hit Dice, though, and it could do with some fluff.

Weezer
2007-04-13, 08:14 PM
I think the 1d10 hit dice is justified, look at the punishment that Indiana Jones could take.

Matthew
2007-04-13, 08:20 PM
Well, presumably that was his high Constitution? I don't see why he should have a better Hit Die than a Warrior, Scout or Cleric.

Overlord
2007-04-13, 08:45 PM
Well, presumably that was his high Constitution? I don't see why he should have a better Hit Die than a Warrior, Scout or Cleric.

Well, the Scout can deal a lot of damage (not as much as a rogue, maybe, but plenty more than this class), the Cleric can both deal a lot of damage and use spells to beef himself up, and as for the Warrior, A: This class doesn't have better hit points, it has equal, and B: The Warrior is an NPC class, and should not be compared to a PC class. But you probably meant Fighter. Or maybe Ranger, since it does have a d8 hit die. But in both cases, the other class is capable of considerably more damage than the explorer.


As for my input on the class:

Looks great to me! Very interesting and...fun-sounding! :smallbiggrin:

I see one or two possible issues, though.

The class gets Improved Evasion one level faster than even the Monk. Is there another class that gains that faster than level 9? If not, I recommend switching Improved Evasion with In the Face of Death +2. Improved Evasion seems significantly better than a skill bonus, so it seems fair.
On that note, Evasion and Improved Evasion aren't listed under class features. A very minor quibble, though.
Danger Skills seems rather too good. Maybe it should be cut down to one skill every time it is gained, and then possibly increased in the frequncy in which it is acquired?

Matthew
2007-04-13, 10:06 PM
Yeah, I suppose so. I still don't like it having such a high Hit Die, but I suppose it's not unbalancing. I did mention the Warrior purposefully. I know it's not an Adventurer Class, but it is a valid analogue. The Explorer is a cross between a Rogue, Fighter and Ranger. It just seems odd, rather than unbalancing to give it a 1D10 Hit Die.

Ackapus
2007-04-14, 05:11 PM
Keep in mind that Indiana Jones probably took a few levels of Ranger to get Favored Enemy: Nazis.

I think it's a very interesting class.

Wojiz
2007-04-14, 05:31 PM
You forgot to add Tumble to the skill list! Without Tumble, Indie woulda been decapitated at the first trial in The Last Crusade!

Maerok
2007-04-14, 08:17 PM
Alright, well I've added Tumble and switched around Improved Evasion and In the Face of Death +2.

Tyrael
2007-04-14, 08:29 PM
He needs whip tricks of some sort. Whip proficiency, bonus to disarm and trip, etc. Maybe consider granting him the Whip Climber trick from Complete Scoundrel.

asqwasqw
2007-04-14, 08:40 PM
He needs whip tricks of some sort. Whip proficiency, bonus to disarm and trip, etc. Maybe consider granting him the Whip Climber trick from Complete Scoundrel.

Not whip tricks, but maybe he could choose a path (like a ranger) and a favored weapon to go with the path, or maybe just a favored weapon. Whip tricks just sounds too restrictive.

Arbitrarity
2007-04-14, 09:45 PM
What does it DO? Is it of any use in a party situation?

Actually, it probably is, just asking, you never know. What do you envision this class doing?

Personally, I can't see how it contributes that much in combat, though it survives better than a ranger in the wild, etc.

Maerok
2007-04-14, 10:48 PM
Eh, I really just designed this to be an explorer who has the skills to go where they want to go and seek out various points of interest. All the other classes seem geared to stealth, magic, or combat, but none are really just for peeking around or wandering the world. They combat the environment, as well as the occasional enemy they come across. He can combat the dungeon itself just fine, and works as a sort of scout, intel-gatherer, or just a treasure-hunter with elements from some of the other base classes.

Rowanomicon
2007-04-16, 10:03 PM
You Rock.
Anyway, as awesome as this is it seems like something is missing... I can't quite place my finger on what though.
Just a thought: perhaps all good saves would be a good idea for this class. Indie could stay alive/healthy with the best of them in any situation. Or maybe In The Face Of Death should apply to saves aswell?

Now I want to make a PrC that specializes in improving the Impromptu Crafting ability...

sigurd
2007-04-16, 10:47 PM
Seems like you put everything into the class and freed up all the chars level feats. With PC's getting feats every three levels these guys will leave indie in the dust.


Sigurd

Maerok
2007-04-17, 12:37 AM
You Rock.
Anyway, as awesome as this is it seems like something is missing... I can't quite place my finger on what though.
Just a thought: perhaps all good saves would be a good idea for this class. Indie could stay alive/healthy with the best of them in any situation. Or maybe In The Face Of Death should apply to saves aswell?

Now I want to make a PrC that specializes in improving the Impromptu Crafting ability...

I was toying around with whether or not to have all good saves and I'm still not sure.

Vhaidara
2007-04-18, 10:59 PM
This is probably the only homebrew class I've ever seen that was actually balanced. You get promoted a grade for this. However, one thing I'd do is drop it to a d8 HD.

Maerok
2007-04-18, 11:03 PM
Yay. :smallbiggrin:

Hey, I just noticed I was a bugbear; I'd been a barbarian for quite a while.

Edit: Added fluff! I still don't know if the HD should be d8 or d10, and whether Will should be a good save... Perhaps d8 and good will?

paigeoliver
2007-04-19, 03:42 AM
The class is a bit too good in the early levels.

Dip a single level you get trapfinding, a bonus feat (exotic weapon proficiency), two good saves, and the ability to always be able to take 10 on a single skill. The bit about always being able to take 10 is way too good for a 1st level ability. Normally that is the kind of thing that you can't even get until prestige class territory. Plus, Indy blew skill checks as often as he made them, he really didn't seem to take a lot of 10s on anything.

Being able to take 10 on disable device or tumble at 1st level is pretty darn powerful. That makes for 1st level autotumblers, and after a few levels removes all the danger from disabling traps.

XtheYeti
2007-04-19, 07:13 AM
I like the class alot, but i think he would get kicked around in combat

Ackapus
2007-04-19, 12:16 PM
I'm almost tempted to say rework as a 10-level prestige class.

My friendly neighborhood DM ran a campaign where he reworked the Paladin class to be a 10-level prestige class, to make it more the mirror opposite of the blackguard. Worked nicely.

triforcel
2007-04-19, 01:40 PM
It looks good to me. Though I would make a few changes. First off I think that they should get lowlight vision before they get darkvision, it just makes more sense to me that way. Secondly, I would probably break In the Face of Death into smaller bonuses and spread it out more through the class so you get a +1 in the earlier levels and then +2 a few levels later and so forth.

DragonTounge
2007-06-08, 06:50 PM
I'd go with a d8.

ShneekeyTheLost
2007-06-08, 07:02 PM
I like it, a skillmonkey class that MAKES SENSE!!

Indiana Jones probably splashed Ranger for Track and Favored Enemy (Nazis), then went into the Lasher (Sword & Fist, 3.0) PrC. Most of the things Indi did with his whip can be done with the 1st level Lasher ability.

Hazkali
2007-06-10, 09:03 AM
This is quite good. It's missing the essential niche that all of the other base classes in the SRD have, but it's better than a bard and would be good for a 1-on-1 adventure.

I would say, however, that the ability to take 10 on a skill check is a teensy bit too good at 1st level. I would remove the ability from 1st level, and instead replace it with an Explorer Bonus feat.

Maerok
2007-06-10, 09:44 AM
Alright then.

Wolf_Boy
2007-06-12, 09:22 PM
Indiana Jones is nothing more than a lawful good rogue... except during his midlife crises also known as the temple of doom in which case he seemed an entirely different character than he was in the first and last movie.

TheOOB
2007-06-13, 01:16 AM
This class, to me, looks like a Prestige class extended 10-15 more levels then it has to be. It's well built and all, but the class really doesn't have anything special to offer that a rogue or ranger can't offer while still having good combat abilities, which the explorer lacks. As a base class you get some cool and interesting abilities, but in the long run you arn't all that useful to the party.

I think the class would work better as a prestige classes, designed at giving a urban oriented class (fighter, bard, rogue, ect) and edge while exploring unknown territory. That way the class would have the abilities of the base class to fall back upon when times get rough.

Hazkali
2007-06-13, 03:02 AM
Indiana Jones is nothing more than a lawful good rogue... except during his midlife crises also known as the temple of doom in which case he seemed an entirely different character than he was in the first and last movie.

Actually, the Temple of Doom was a prequel to the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Wolf_Boy
2007-06-13, 03:45 AM
Ahh you he was just being young and stupid then, either way, Indiana was much cooler in the other two movies than he was in temple of doom. He's one of my favorite characters because represents quite well in my opinion a good example of a lawful good rogue. Yeah he wasn't so lawful when it came to women, but let's face it, everyone has their vices.

Vhaidara
2007-06-14, 10:56 AM
I say d8, but good will save, and replace Danger Skills with bonus skill tricks from the Complete Scoundrel. There actually is one for using a whip to swing across a pit!

Human Paragon 3
2007-06-14, 12:07 PM
Awesome class. He definately needs some weapon bonuses though, maybe he gets a favored weapon like kensai or a soul knife (I mention soul knife because he gets weapon enhancements and weapon focuses to make his BAB equivilant to full, not because Explorer should have a magical weapon that appears on call). This would fit in with Indie's whip and make the Explorer more useful in combat.

He still won't be as useful as a rogue (sneak attack) or a fighter (bonus feats) but his unique skill aplications and the impromptu crafting are what sets him appart.