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Lord Lut
2016-07-30, 12:28 AM
This is the Bulwark, a two-shield fighter. Depending on the kind of shield they specialize in he may be a mobile fighter, jumping across the battlefield to intercept attacks on their allies, a living battering ram, charging around and using his shields to knock foes aside to isolate enemies and open channels of attack, or he may be a stationary wall, creating a zone of safety from behind which the party rains death on their foes.
=============
I'm looking for criticism and suggestions for the class in general
-- I'm also looking for suggestions on what abilities to grant buckler-users with Shield Training, and suggestions for "Advanced Shield Training" similar to the fighter's advanced armor/weapon training options for someone to gain instead of abilities for an additional shield-type.



Level
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Special


1st
+1
+2
+0
+2
Bulwark Protection, Two-Shield Defense, Two-Shield Offense


2nd
+2
+3
+0
+3
Shield Focus


3rd
+3
+3
+1
+3
Armor Training 1, Improved Shield Bash


4th
+4
+4
+1
+4
Shield Specialization


5th
+5
+4
+1
+4
Shield Training 1


6th
+6/+1
+5
+2
+5
Shield Slam


7th
+7/+2
+5
+2
+5
Armor Training 2, Missile Shield


8th
+8/+3
+6
+2
+6
Greater Shield Focus


9th
+9/+4
+6
+3
+6
Shield Training 2, Shield Defense


10th
+10/+5
+7
+3
+7
Shield Master, Ray Shield


11th
+11/+6/+1
+7
+3
+7
Armor Training 3, True Wall +1


12th
+12/+7/+2
+8
+4
+8
True Wall +2, Greater Shield Specialization


13th
+13/+8/+3
+8
+4
+8
Shield Training 3, True Wall +3


14th
+14/+9/+4
+9
+4
+9
True Wall +4, Shield Evasion


15th
+15/+10/+5
+9
+5
+9
True Wall +5


16th
+16/+11/+6/+1
+10
+5
+10
True Wall +6


17th
+17/+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+10
Shield Training 4, True Wall +7, Shield Check


18th
+18/+13/+8/+3
+11
+6
+11
True Wall +8. Improved Shield Defense


19th
+19/+14/+9/+4
+11
+6
+11
True Wall +9


20th
+20/+15/+10/+5
+12
+6
+12
True Wall +10, Shield Counter, Weapon Bounce, Deflect, Improved Shield Evasion



Whenever an adjacent ally is the target of an attack, you can, as an immediate action, try and block the attack. The ally gains cover against that attack (and only that attack). If the attack misses them but would have hit if not for the cover bonus to their armor class, you become the target of the attack and the attacker must make a new attack roll (with all the same modifiers) against your armor class. You must be wielding a light shield, heavy shield, or tower shield.

After the attack is resolved you lose the AC bonus from the shield in your primary hand until the start of your next turn.

At first level, when wielding two shields, apply the shield bonus of both shields to your AC. If both shields provide an enhancement bonus to AC, apply only the higher enhancement bonuses and in full as the primary shield. The other shield has no passive magical effects.

At fifth level, if both shields provide an enhancement bonus to AC, apply the higher enhancement bonuses in full as the primary shield and +1 enhancement bonus for the off-hand shield (regardless of what other enchantments may be on the second shield) to a max of +6

At tenth level, when wielding two shields, apply the full shield bonus and enhancement bonus from both shields to your AC. You only gain the passive enchantments of the primary shield.

At fifteenth level, when wielding two shields, apply the full shield bonus and enhancement bonus from both shields to your AC. Both shields apply.

At all levels, this ability grants Two-Weapon fighting whenever you are wielding two shields, and you are considered to have Two-Weapon Fighting for feats. Bucklers and light shields count as light weapon and you may designate one shield to be a main-hand weapon.

At 6th level this ability grants Improved Two-Weapon Fighting whenever you are wielding two shields.

At 12th level this ability grants Greater Two-Weapon Fighting whenever you are wielding two shields.

You gain Shield Focus as a Bonus Feat

Starting at 3rd level, a Bulwark learns to be more maneuverable while wearing armor. Whenever he is wearing armor, he reduces the armor check penalty by 1 (to a minimum of 0) and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by his armor by 1. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), these bonuses increase by +1 each time, to a maximum –4 reduction of the armor check penalty and a +4 increase of the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed.
In addition, a Bulwark can also move at his normal speed while wearing medium armor. At 7th level, a Bulwark can move at his normal speed while wearing heavy armor.

You gain Improved Shield Bash as a Bonus Feat

You gain Shield Specialization as a Bonus Feat

Starting at 5th level, a Bulwark select one type of shields (buckler, light, heavy, or tower) and gains the first tier ability for that type of shield. Every four levels thereafter (9th*, 13th, and 17th), the Bulwark gains the first tier ability for another type of shield and the next tier for a type he already has. You may choose not to gain the first tier ability of a new shield and instead increase the AC bonus provided by a type of shield you are trained in by 2/3.

A Bulwark also adds ¼ his level to any combat maneuver checks made with shields from his group. This bonus also applies to the fighter's Combat Maneuver Defense when defending against disarm and sunder attempts made against weapons from this group.

This ability counts as having the Fighter’s “Weapon Training” class feature with Shields for the purpose of feats that require it.



Buckler
Light Shield
Heavy Shield
Tower Shield


Need an ability for here
As an immediate action, when an ally within 15ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 10ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
-1 ACP
-1 ACP
You may use a tower shield to shield bash


Need an ability for here
-1 ACP
As an immediate action, when an ally within 25ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 20ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
If you end a charge with a bull-rush, you do not take the penalty to AC
-2 ACP
Penalty to attack decreases by 1


Need an ability for here
As an Immediate Action, when an ally within 35ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 30ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
-1 ACP
-3 ACP
Penalty to attack decreases by 1


Need an ability for here
-1 ACP (minimum 0)
+10 base speed when wearing light armor and wielding two light shields.
As an Opportunity Action, when an ally within 45ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to your speed and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
When charging, you can try to charge through multiple enemies. Perform a Shield Bash against each target you want to move past, if the attack hits, you may bull-rush the target out of the way and continue your charge instead of pushing it back one space.
-4 ACP
As a standard action you can plant your shields to provide cover to yourself and your allies. When using a tower shield in this way, you must choose either one or two edges of your space to be treated as solid walls. You gain improved cover and total cover for attacks that pass through this edge and no cover for attacks that do not pass through this edge (see Combat). The shield does not, however, provide cover against targeted spells; a spellcaster can cast a spell on you by targeting the shield you are holding.

If you choose two edges, the shields are treated as solid walls for attacks targeting you only.

If you plant both shields on the same side, you create total cover and improved cover for yourself and total cover in a 30ft line behind you if you are medium (60ft if you are large, +60ft per size category above large).




Buckler
Light Shield
Heavy Shield
Tower Shield
Throwing Shield


You can wield and attack with two weapons while wielding two bucklers. You take a -4 penalty with all attacks when using more than two weapons; attacking with only two weapons follows the applicable Two-Weapon Fighting rules.
As an immediate action, when an ally within 15ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 10ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
-1 ACP
-1 ACP
You may use a tower shield to shield bash
You can throw a heavy or light shield as a normal (non-improvised) thrown weapon with a range increment of 10 feet or the shield's range increment, whichever is greater. You are treated as having the Far Shot feat for the purpose of determining range increment penalties for throwing a shield.

You can throw a shield so it ricochets off your target (and possibly other solid objects) to return to her at the end of your turn. This ability functions whether or not the shield champion hits your opponent or moves on your turn. The shield deals no damage to targets it bounces off other than the original target of the shield champion's attack. Other circumstances can prevent the shield from returning to the shield champion, such as an opponent using a readied action to catch the shield, or the shield sticking to a mimic's adhesive. You can opt to not have a thrown shield return to her, in which case it falls to the ground as it normally would. If the shield has the returning weapon special ability, she can use either that or this ability.

If you have additional attacks from a high base attack bonus, these additional attacks can be ricochets off an earlier target. The distance to each additional target adds to the total range of the shield, and range penalties apply, but there are no additional penalties for attacking in this manner. Because ricocheting attacks are treated as separate attacks, effects and modifiers that only apply to one attack roll (such as true strike) only apply to the first attack and not to the others. Penalties from range are not negated by the shield master feat.

You lose the AC bonus from a shield thrown in this manner until the beginning of your next turn.


When wielding two weapons you may make a 2nd attack with each offhand weapon at a -9 penalty.
-1 ACP
As an immediate action, when an ally within 25ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 20ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
If you end a charge with a bull-rush, you do not take the penalty to AC
-2 ACP
Penalty to attack decreases by 1
You can use a thrown shield to perform a bull rush, dirty trick, disarm, reposition, or trip combat maneuver as if she were making a melee shield bash attack.

You lose the AC bonus from a shield thrown in this manner against the first attack made against you before the start of your next turn.


When wielding two weapons you may make a 3rd attack with each offhand weapon at a -14 penalty.
As an Immediate Action, when an ally within 35ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 30ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
-1 ACP
-3 ACP
Penalty to attack decreases by 1
You my throw both shields as part of a full action, the shields may target separate creatures and you may choose to have both, one, or neither return to your hand afterward.

You do not lose the AC bonus from your main-hand shield when thrown in this manner unless the attack is made before the shield(s) return(s) at the end of your turn; you still lose the AC bonus of your offhand shield against the next attack.


Still need an ability for here
-1 ACP (minimum 0)
+10 base speed when wearing light armor and wielding two light shields.
As an Opportunity Action, when an ally within 45ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to your speed and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
When charging, you can try to charge through multiple enemies. Perform a Shield Bash against each target you want to move past, if the attack hits, you may bull-rush the target out of the way and continue your charge instead of pushing it back one space.
-4 ACP
As a standard action you can plant your shields to provide cover to yourself and your allies. When using a tower shield in this way, you must choose either one or two edges of your space to be treated as solid walls. You gain improved cover and total cover for attacks that pass through this edge and no cover for attacks that do not pass through this edge (see Combat). The shield does not, however, provide cover against targeted spells; a spellcaster can cast a spell on you by targeting the shield you are holding.

If you choose two edges, the shields are treated as solid walls for attacks targeting you only.

If you plant both shields on the same side, you create total cover and improved cover for yourself and total cover in a 30ft line behind you if you are medium (60ft if you are large, +60ft per size category above large).
By ricocheting her shield off a nearby surface before hitting your intended target, she can treat that surface as the origin square of the attack to determine whether the target is flanked and whether the target gains a cover bonus to its AC. You can use this ability to attack a creature with total concealment if she knows what square it occupies, but the attack still has a 50% miss chance.

You only lose your shield bonus to AC against attacks made before the end of your current turn.



Once per round when you would normally be hit with an attack from a ranged weapon (not including spell effects, natural attacks, or massive ranged weapons), you may deflect it so that you take no damage, as if you had the Deflect Arrows feat. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed.

Once per round when you would normally be hit with an attack from a ranged weapon (not including spell effects, natural attacks, or massive ranged weapons), you may deflect it so that you take no damage, as if you had the Deflect Arrows feat. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed. You must be wielding a two shields to use this ability

You gain Greater Shield Focus as a Bonus Feat

You may apply the armor and enhancement bonus from one of your shields to your Touch AC.

You do not suffer any penalties for attacking while you are wielding two shields. You may add your shield’s enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls made with the shield as if it were a weapon enhancement bonus.

Once per round when you would normally be hit with a ranged touch attack (including rays and similar magical effects), you may deflect it so that you take no damage from it. your shield suffers the full effects of the spell or effect, if applicable.

Starting at 10th level the Bulwark gain a Class Bonus to DR /- and SR equal to your Bulwark level -10. Both abilities stack with all other sources and either can be suppressed until the beginning of your next turn as a swift action.

You may apply the armor and enhancement bonus from both of your shields to your Touch AC.

You gain a number of additional attacks of opportunity each round equal to your Wisdom bonus (minimum +1). These additional attacks can only be used to make shield bash attacks. If you have both Shield Check and Combat Reflexes the effects stack, resulting in your having some bonus attack of opportunity that can be used for any legitimate attack of opportunity and some that can only be used for shield bashing.

When an enemy misses you with a melee attack you may make an opportunity attack against that enemy.

When an enemy hits you with a melee attack, you may make a disarm attempt against that enemy. This ability does not provoke an attack of opportunity

When you are targeted by a single-target spell that deals damage, you can make the attack target you and one adjacent creature, if both attacks hit you each take half-damage. If the attack only hits one of the targeted creatures that creature takes full damage.

This works like evasion, except while the Bulwark still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack, she also takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless rogue does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

upho
2016-07-31, 11:54 AM
Just wanted to drop in and say I appreciate this initiative.

Don't be alarmed in case this thread attracts seemingly unreasonable amounts of "dual wielding shields is cheesy and unrealistic" types of comments/critique. Such posts are simply a common symptom of HV/FDD (Verisimilitude Hypersensitivity/Fact Deficit Disorder), a well-known fantasy RPG player disorder of the "vaguely defined realism" type, which is apparently more than ten times as prevalent in the "PF forum poster" player population than in the RPG player population as a whole. It is theorized some of the individuals in this sub-population may actually spread the disorder through their daily jobs (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ng3a?Why-not-dual-shields#12). So especially if you'd like to get feedback from the Paizo forum as well, here's two handy RL Bulwark (https://youtu.be/VbdLr7A6W3s) educational vids (https://youtu.be/y9uILn0iCUs) you may share to help these poor posters manage and alleviate their symptoms... :smallwink:

Might be back once I have some more constructive comments...

PapaQuackers
2016-07-31, 11:58 AM
So this looks fun.

Maybe I'm missing it but what will the intended hit dice for this class be? Also I think it would probably be more appropriate to have a good reflex save instead of a good will save. Since this class seems to focus on split second reactions to protect your teammates and what not. It doesn't strike me as someone who isn't going to succumb to mental domination as opposed to someone who can quickly avoid an attack.

Also I'm noticing a distinct lack of throwing your shield and that makes my heart hurt q.q

Lord Lut
2016-07-31, 10:09 PM
Just wanted to drop in and say I appreciate this initiative.
...
Might be back once I have some more constructive comments...

Thanks ^_^


So this looks fun.

Maybe I'm missing it but what will the intended hit dice for this class be? Also I think it would probably be more appropriate to have a good reflex save instead of a good will save. Since this class seems to focus on split second reactions to protect your teammates and what not. It doesn't strike me as someone who isn't going to succumb to mental domination as opposed to someone who can quickly avoid an attack.

Also I'm noticing a distinct lack of throwing your shield and that makes my heart hurt q.q

sorry, i had it included and then deleted it during one of my struggles with the formatting.

It's a D10 and 5d6 x 10 gp starting GP like a fighter

I think you're right about the Reflexes over Will saves

Maybe instead of bucklers (and the multi-weapon fighting i was considering to go with it) i could make "throwing shields" the 4th type of shields for shield training?
Or should i put multi-weapon fighting with bucklers as the 4th and make throwing a 5th option?

I'll write something up for each and ask for opinions

Lord Lut
2016-08-01, 12:10 AM
How about this? (contents of this post are now visible in the OP)

Starting at 5th level, a Bulwark select one type of shields (buckler, light, heavy, or tower) and gains the first tier ability for that type of shield. Every four levels thereafter (9th*, 13th, and 17th), the Bulwark gains the first tier ability for another type of shield and the next tier for a type he already has. You may choose not to gain the first tier ability of a new shield and instead increase the AC bonus provided by a type of shield you are trained in by 2/3.

A Bulwark also adds ¼ his level to any combat maneuver checks made with shields from his group. This bonus also applies to the fighter's Combat Maneuver Defense when defending against disarm and sunder attempts made against weapons from this group.

This ability counts as having the Fighter’s “Weapon Training” class feature with Shields for the purpose of feats that require it.



Buckler
Light Shield
Heavy Shield
Tower Shield
Throwing Shield


You can wield and attack with two weapons while wielding two bucklers. You take a -4 penalty with all attacks when using more than two weapons; attacking with only two weapons follows the applicable Two-Weapon Fighting rules.
As an immediate action, when an ally within 15ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 10ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
-1 ACP
-1 ACP
You may use a tower shield to shield bash
You can throw a heavy or light shield as a normal (non-improvised) thrown weapon with a range increment of 10 feet or the shield's range increment, whichever is greater. You are treated as having the Far Shot feat for the purpose of determining range increment penalties for throwing a shield.

You can throw a shield so it ricochets off your target (and possibly other solid objects) to return to her at the end of your turn. This ability functions whether or not the shield champion hits your opponent or moves on your turn. The shield deals no damage to targets it bounces off other than the original target of the shield champion's attack. Other circumstances can prevent the shield from returning to the shield champion, such as an opponent using a readied action to catch the shield, or the shield sticking to a mimic's adhesive. You can opt to not have a thrown shield return to her, in which case it falls to the ground as it normally would. If the shield has the returning weapon special ability, she can use either that or this ability.

If you have additional attacks from a high base attack bonus, these additional attacks can be ricochets off an earlier target. The distance to each additional target adds to the total range of the shield, and range penalties apply, but there are no additional penalties for attacking in this manner. Because ricocheting attacks are treated as separate attacks, effects and modifiers that only apply to one attack roll (such as true strike) only apply to the first attack and not to the others. Penalties from range are not negated by the shield master feat.

You lose the AC bonus from a shield thrown in this manner until the beginning of your next turn.


When wielding two weapons you may make a 2nd attack with each offhand weapon at a -9 penalty.
-1 ACP
As an immediate action, when an ally within 25ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 20ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
If you end a charge with a bull-rush, you do not take the penalty to AC
-2 ACP
Penalty to attack decreases by 1
You can use a thrown shield to perform a bull rush, dirty trick, disarm, reposition, or trip combat maneuver as if she were making a melee shield bash attack.

You lose the AC bonus from a shield thrown in this manner against the first attack made against you before the start of your next turn.


When wielding two weapons you may make a 3rd attack with each offhand weapon at a -14 penalty.
As an Immediate Action, when an ally within 35ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to 30ft and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
-1 ACP
-3 ACP
Penalty to attack decreases by 1
You my throw both shields as part of a full action, the shields may target separate creatures and you may choose to have both, one, or neither return to your hand afterward.

You do not lose the AC bonus from your main-hand shield when thrown in this manner unless the attack is made before the shield(s) return(s) at the end of your turn; you still lose the AC bonus of your offhand shield against the next attack.


Still need an ability for here
-1 ACP (minimum 0)
+10 base speed when wearing light armor and wielding two light shields.
As an Opportunity Action, when an ally within 45ft of you is targeted with a ranged or melee attack, you can move up to your speed and grant Bulwark Protection to that ally. You must end your move adjacent to the attacked ally.
When charging, you can try to charge through multiple enemies. Perform a Shield Bash against each target you want to move past, if the attack hits, you may bull-rush the target out of the way and continue your charge instead of pushing it back one space.
-4 ACP
As a standard action you can plant your shields to provide cover to yourself and your allies. When using a tower shield in this way, you must choose either one or two edges of your space to be treated as solid walls. You gain improved cover and total cover for attacks that pass through this edge and no cover for attacks that do not pass through this edge (see Combat). The shield does not, however, provide cover against targeted spells; a spellcaster can cast a spell on you by targeting the shield you are holding.

If you choose two edges, the shields are treated as solid walls for attacks targeting you only.

If you plant both shields on the same side, you create total cover and improved cover for yourself and total cover in a 30ft line behind you if you are medium (60ft if you are large, +60ft per size category above large).
By ricocheting her shield off a nearby surface before hitting your intended target, she can treat that surface as the origin square of the attack to determine whether the target is flanked and whether the target gains a cover bonus to its AC. You can use this ability to attack a creature with total concealment if she knows what square it occupies, but the attack still has a 50% miss chance.

You only lose your shield bonus to AC against attacks made before the end of your current turn.