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View Full Version : Yet another Kensai variant



Blondie
2007-05-04, 12:10 PM
Hey all,

as my first attempt at home brew I build a variant on the overly discussed but still so very interesting kensai. Story is pending, for now just the numbers. Hope you like it, comments welcome!

Greets,
Joost


Blade Balancer

Hit Die d8
Skill points per level (4 + int) x 4 at first level, 4 + int at higher levels
Class Skills balance, concentration, climb, perform (dance), use rope, profession, escape artist, jump, swim, tumble
Alignment Restrictions True neutral
Weapon Proficiencies All simple and martial weapons that deal slashing damage as well as slings and shortbows

{table=head]Level|Base AttackBonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1 |
+0|
+2|
+0|Weapon of Choice (size),Blade barrier, Fast Movement

2nd|
+2 |
+0|
+3|
+0|Rain of slashes

3rd|
+3 |
+1|
+3|
+1|Evasion

4th|
+4 |
+1|
+4|
+1|Weapon of Choice (finesse)

5th|
+5 |
+1|
+4|
+1|Deep cut 1/day

6th|
+6/ +1 |
+2|
+5|
+2|Uncanny dodge

7th|
+7/ +2 |
+2|
+5|
+2|

8th|
+8/ +3 |
+2|
+6|
+2|Improved evasion

9th|
+9/ +4 |
+3|
+6|
+3|Deep cut 2/day (multiplier increase)

10th|
+10/ +5 |
+3|
+7|
+3|Improved rain

11th|
+11/ +6/ +1 |
+3|
+7|
+3|

12th|
+12/ +7/ +2 |
+4|
+8|
+4|Improved uncanny dodge

13th|
+13/ +8/ +3 |
+4|
+8|
+4|

14th|
+14/ +9/ +4 |
+4|
+9|
+4|Deep cut 3/day (multiplier increase)

15th|
+15/+10/ +5 |
+5|
+9|
+5|

16th|
+16/+11/ +6/ +1|
+5|
+10|
+5|Greater Rain

17th|
+17/+12/ +7/ +2|
+5|
+10|
+5|

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

19th|
+19/+14/ +9/ +4|
+6|
+11|
+6|Superior Rain

20th|
+20/+15/+10/ +5|
+6|
+12|
+6|Deep cut 3/day (multiplier increase), Perfect Rain[/table]

{table=head]Level|Rain of Slashes attack bonus|Maximum Blade Barrier shield bonus

1st|
- |
+1

2nd|
+0/ +0 |
+1

3rd|
+1/ +1 |
+1

4th|
+2/ +2 |
+1

5th|
+3/ +3 |
+2

6th|
+4/ +4/ -1 |
+2

7th|
+5/ +5/ +0 |
+2

8th|
+6/ +6/ +1 |
+2

9th|
+7/ +7/ +2 |
+2

10th|
+8/ +8/ +3/ +3 |
+3

11th|
+9/ +9/ +4/ +4/ -1 |
+3

12th|
+10/+10/ +5/ +5/ +0 |
+3

13th|
+11/+11/ +6/ +6/ +1 |
+3

14th|
+12/+12/ +7/ +7/ +2 |
+3

15th|
+13/+13/ +8/ +8/ +3 |
+4

16th|
+15/+15/+10/+10/ +5/ +0 |
+4

17th|
+16/+16/+11/+11/ +6/ +1 |
+4

18th|
+17/+17/+12/+12/ +7/ +2 |
+4

19th|
+18/+18/+13/+13/ +8/ +8/+3/+3|
+4

20th|
+20/+20/+15/+15/+10/+10/+5/+5|
+5 [/table]

Unarmoured combat
All the abilities of the Blade Balancer depend on freedom of movement. If the Balancer wears armour of any kind or wears a shield, none of the benefits apply. This also happens when the Balancer is somehow hindered in her movement; either by her load or through other effects such as the spell Web.

Weapon of choice (Ex)
At first level, the Blade Balancer chooses a weapon type which becomes her Weapon of Choice. This weapon must be an edged weapon which does slashing damage. From then on, this weapon type is considered one size category smaller with regard to two weapon fighting penalties.
At fourth level the Blade Balancer gains the effects of the Weapon Finesse feat while (dual-)wielding this weapon. If the Blade Balancer wears any armour or shield, the benefits are lost, as well as the benefits of any abilities which depend on this ability. Since this ability surpasses any regular two-weapon-fighting, she cannot gain benefit of other two weapon fighting feats.

Blade Barrier (Ex)
Every 5 levels the balancer improves her two-handed defensive fighting ability. She can use part of her intelligence bonus to gain an additional shield bonus to AC while wielding two weapons of choice. This bonus is limited to +1 until level 5, +2 until level 10 etcetera, but can never exceed her (actual) intelligence bonus. The bonus is never negative, even if her intelligence bonus is.

Fast movement (Ex)
As per PHB

Rain of Slashes (Ex)
From the second level on, the Blade Balancer gains the ability to rain down slashes with an exceptional speed. When wielding two Weapons of Choice she can substitute her normal full-round attacks for a Rain of Slashes. While doing so, she uses the attack bonuses as denoted above. As the Blade balancer gains levels, this ability improves.
During the rain, an Balancer must be utterly concentrated. If she is hurt or otherwise distracted, she must make a Concentration check. If she fails, she is unable to use the Rain of Slashes for a full round. During any round she used her Rain she receives a -5 penalty on every roll that requires attention and doesn't involve mêlée combat.

Evasion (Ex)
As per PHB

Deep cut (Ex)
For every 5 levels (rounded down) the balancer gets one Deep cut attack per day. Deep Cut is a full round attack that replaces all other attacks. She must announce she is attempting an Deep Cut attack. She rolls an attack roll at her highest modifier and adds her intelligence modifier (if positive). If this attack succeeds, the damage is rolled as it were an critical hit. If the cut misses, the attack still counts towards her daily limit.
Creatures that are immune to critical hits are also immune to the extra damage of a Deep cut attack. If an Deep Cut attack is attempted on such a creature, damage is rolled normally.
At 9th, 14th and 20th level, in addition to gaining an extra Deep Cut attack, the critical multipier increases by 1. For example: when wielding a longsword, the multiplier would increase to x5 at 20th level. This increase only applies to Deep Cut attacks.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
As per PHB

Improved Evasion (Ex)
As per PHB

Improved rain (Ex)
At tenth level, she gains an extra attack at her second-highest attack bonus when using the Rain of Slashes ability.

Improved uncanny dodge (Ex)
As per PHB

Greater Rain (Ex)
At 16th level the two-weapon penalty decreases to -1 while using the Rain of Slashes ability

Superior Rain (Ex)
At 19th level the balancer picked up enough speed while raining to make an additional attack for every normal attack she is allowed to make in her own attack-round. These extra attacks are made at the same attack bonus as the original attack is made.

Perfect Rain (Ex)
At 20th level the balancer has perfected her two weapon fighting ability to such extend that the penalty for wielding two weapons is lifted completely.

Ex-balancers
balancers who loose neutrality cannot gain new balancer-levels until they become neutral again. They loose the Weapon of Choice ability and can no longer use abilities tied to this ability.

Balancers and Multiclassing
Once multiclassed away from Blade Balancer, further progress in this class is not possible

Matthew
2007-05-15, 08:47 PM
I think Rain of Slashes may be too powerful. Does it stack with Two Weapon Fighting?

Blondie
2007-05-21, 04:40 PM
Thanks for the input!

No, Rain of Slashes does not stack with Two Weapon Fighting; it replaces any normal full-round attack (see description of weapon of choice).

I agree it is a very powerfull ability, but don't you think it is compensated enough by the low armourclass and the decreased hitdie?

The monk's flurry of blows mostly differs on tohit only and has d20 damage at lvl 20 to boot. On top of that a monk gets upto +5 ac extra and doesn't have her wisdom bonus restricted as well as many extra feats.

So, yes, on itself it would be far too powerfull, but the price to pay is a equally high one. No staying power, no only a few non-combat quirks...

What do you think?

Cheers!
Joost

Ceres
2007-05-22, 11:14 AM
Haven't read it all through yet, but it looks promising. I think their weapon proficiency is a bit unclear. When you say "All simple weapons and all martial weapons that deal slashing damage, sling, shortbow", do you mean that the sling and the shortbow are the only weapons the class is proficient with that are not slashing weapons, or that all simple weapons can be used, including those which don't do slashing damage?

As you include slings separately, I believe you want Blade Balancers to be unable to use clubs and maces. Now english is not my first language, but if this is your intention, you should probably change the descreption to something like this:

"All simple and martial weapons that deal slashing damage as well as slings and shortbows"

Just my two cents.

Matthew
2007-05-24, 04:53 PM
No, Rain of Slashes does not stack with Two Weapon Fighting; it replaces any normal full-round attack (see description of weapon of choice).
Okay


I agree it is a very powerfull ability, but don't you think it is compensated enough by the low armourclass and the decreased hitdie?

Not necessarily, it's not difficult to get plenty of AC in D&D and 1D8 Hit Points isn't too low either.


The monk's flurry of blows mostly differs on tohit only and has d20 damage at lvl 20 to boot. On top of that a monk gets upto +5 ac extra and doesn't have her wisdom bonus restricted as well as many extra feats.

Ah, but To Hit Bonuses and number of Attacks are very useful. Full BAB and Flurry of Blows is a potentially powerful combination. Still, this mightn't be too powerful.


So, yes, on itself it would be far too powerfull, but the price to pay is a equally high one. No staying power, no only a few non-combat quirks...

I'm no longer sure it's hugely powerful, but it's hard to say.


What do you think?

I think that it might have been easier to modify Two Weapon Fighting than create a whole new Class Feature in this case.

Simply grant this Class:

Level 01: Two Weapon Fighting, Oversized Two Weapon Fighting,
Level 06: Improved Two Weapon Fighting,
Level 11: Greater Two weapon Fighting,
Level 16: Perfected Two Weapon Fighting,

and consider these Home Brewed Feats - Mobile Two Weapon Fighting (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1798151#post1798151) and Even Handed (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1793539#post1793539) as early Class Features. I wouldn't bother restricting these abilities to Swords or a particular Sword. This Kensai Class already has a great number of Sword specific Feats.

Blondie
2007-05-26, 04:04 PM
@Ceres: I have included your suggestion, thanks!


Okay
I think that it might have been easier to modify Two Weapon Fighting than create a whole new Class Feature in this case.

Simply grant this Class:

Level 01: Two Weapon Fighting, Oversized Two Weapon Fighting,
Level 06: Improved Two Weapon Fighting,
Level 11: Greater Two weapon Fighting,
Level 16: Perfected Two Weapon Fighting,

and consider these Home Brewed Feats - Mobile Two Weapon Fighting (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1798151#post1798151) and Even Handed (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1793539#post1793539) as early Class Features. I wouldn't bother restricting these abilities to Swords or a particular Sword. This Kensai Class already has a great number of Sword specific Feats.

Interesting indeed!
I am not familiar with Oversized Two Weapon Fighting, but I guess it's to drop the -2 malus when wielding medium-sized in the off-hand?

This combination gives the same amount of attacks as my original configuration, and per lvl 16 roughly the same BAB. The gap between 15 and 16 is huge though... But I guess that's why the feat is Epic.

But then, what about the fact that a fighter is able to effectually mimic this class upto lvl 15 (except the rogue-feats) and has feats to spare (not mentioning his HP and AC)?

One of the main reasons I diverted from the feats was to "let it grow smoothly". This way it seems to me as a "big wait untill sweet sixteen", so to speak.

But you certainly got a strong point. I will have to look closely at this possibility.

Matthew
2007-05-26, 07:35 PM
Yeah, Oversized Two Weapon Fighting is a Feat available at Level One that brings Two Wepaon Fighting penalties for One Handed Weapons down from -4/-4 to -2/-2.

It is true that the Fighter is able to emulate this Class Feature, but the Fighter is supposed to be able to emulate a good deal of things. even so, he won't be able to emulate many of the other features of this Class.

The alternative, in my opinion, is to grant the Kensai a Flurry of Blows type ability, that I like to call Rapid Striking. It basically allows your Kensai to use his chosen Sword to deliver double attacks with one weapon:

Level 20 Kensai:
Primary Attack: +18/+18/+13/+13/+8/+8/+3/+3

This would mirror and stack with Two Weapon Fighting, meaning that the Kensai could potentially achieve:

Level 20 Kensai:
Primary Attack: +16/+16/+11/+11/+6/+6/+1/+1
Off Hand Attack: +16/+11/+6/+1

...for a total of twelve attacks, given that the Kensai can get the four Feats to spend (maybe seven if he is allowed access to Oversized Two Weapon Fighting, Mobile Two Weapon Fighting and Even Handed).

I would also use a Mobile Rapid Striking Feat to prevent the Feature becoming irrelevant outside of Full Attacks (fairly rare at high levels).

Net result is a cool Class Feature that doesn't bottle neck the Kensai into a specific form of fighting or overwrite already available feats and which cannot be emulated by the Fighter.

The Kensai's chosen Weapon should also gain these Bonuses:

Level 01-04: +1 AB, +02 DB,
Level 05-08: +2 AB, +04 DB,
Level 09-12: +3 AB, +06 DB,
Level 13-16: +4 AB, +08 DB,
Level 17-20: +5 AB, +10 DB,

These Bonuses should not stack with Weapon Focus, Specialisation or Mastery.

Blade Barrier, I think should also work in a similar manner, either

Level 01-04: +1 AC,
Level 05-08: +2 AC,
Level 09-12: +3 AC,
Level 13-16: +4 AC,
Level 17-20: +5 AC,

or

Level 01-05: +1 AC,
Level 06-10: +2 AC,
Level 11-15: +3 AC,
Level 16-20: +4 AC,

when using the Two Weapon Fighting with the Chosen Weapon. Defensive Two Weapon Fighting should stack with this Bonus.

Now, okay, I'm starting to wander from this being a variant Kensai, but I think that it's variantness can be handled by Bonus feats better than a whole new Base Class.

Level 01: Weapon Mastery +1, Storm of Blades,
Level 02:
Level 03:
Level 04:
Level 05: Weapon Mastery +2,
Level 06: Improved Storm of Blades,
Level 07:
Level 08:
Level 09: Weapon Mastery +3,
Level 10:
Level 11: Greater Storm of Blades,
Level 12:
Level 13: Weapon Mastery +4,
Level 14:
Level 15:
Level 16: Perfected Storm of Blades
Level 17: Weapon Mastery +5,
Level 18:
Level 19:
Level 20: