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View Full Version : Gotta Guard the Gate! [Base Class]



Quellian-dyrae
2007-08-12, 07:23 PM
Guard

Adventurers like to laugh at them, those low-level warriors in their scale mail with their halberds that stand outside the city gate. “You may pass,” they say, and the heroes can’t help but chuckle at this simple statement of fact. But it should be remembered that not all town guards are mundane warriors. In fact, some are so dedicated to the arts of defending a city that they have trained in specialized techniques for doing so. Even so, these skilled fighters do not adopt special titles or create a new name for their profession. They are still just guards, still just doing their duty—they just do it a lot better than most.

Guards are defensive specialists, and they believe that the best defense is a good offense. They specialize in the use of reach weapons to keep their foes back, attempting to fell their opponents before they can close. Although a guard would be hard-pressed to stand against a skilled fighter or powerful barbarian in a toe-to-toe fight, they are masters of keeping their opponents back, eliminating groups of weak foes quickly or wearing down single strong opponents.

Guards are more commonly found in cities than on the road, but sometimes the adventuring life calls to even them. They may travel to defeat a threat to their home, or because their skills have outgrown their mundane job.

Most guards are lawfully aligned. Their class features favor group support, with the guard keeping enemies away from their allies, while their comrades work to quickly neutralize threats too powerful for the guard to easily force back. This is a notable majority, but by no means a requirement. Guards may be of any alignment.

In addition to their defensive abilities, guards are often called to handle investigative work. As such, a guard can be a skilled diplomat, and experienced guards often have significant leadership experience.

At the low levels, a guard relies on attacks of opportunity to drop foes before they get close. As it advances and foes become tougher, the guard begins to learn techniques for engaging in a toe-to-toe fight effectively and supporting its allies. High-level guards are powerful defenders, able to control entire segments of the battlefield and force their opponents back with their precise attacks.

A guard’s relationship with others is likely to be governed more by nature than by class. Guards and spellcasters have a love-hate relationship. That is, they love the ones on their side and hate those of their enemies. Keeping the spellcasters safe from melee threats is often the primary duty of the guard. If its own casters can provide cover, however, a guard can make casting a difficult affair indeed for an enemy mage. There is a natural friction between guards and rogues, since in the cities, these two classes tend to be diametrically opposed. In an adventuring party, neither the rogue nor the guard is likely to entirely trust the other for a long time.

Guards are common enough in all races, although the roles they fill may vary some. Human guards are the traditional grim, dutiful defenders of a city. Elven guards are usually elite warriors that protect the elven mages. Dwarven guards are some of the most respected units in the stronghold; there is something of a rivalry between the more mobile guards and the more defense-oriented dwarven defenders, but when the two work together the results are spectacular. Halfling guards are the first line of defense for a nomadic tribe lacking walls and other fortifications. Gnome guards, sometimes called harriers, rely on the illusions of their fellows to draw opponents their way, the guards then mowing them down as they move by. Guards are much less common among the savage races.

Adaptation: This class can be adapted to focus more on the mobility and quickness of a skilled spear-fighter rather than the typical town guard simply by changing around some skills. Simply replace Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Knowledge (Local) with Bluff (for feinting), Tumble, and Balance. Since those skills synergize better with the guard’s class features, you may also want to lower their armor proficiency to light and remove their shield proficiency.

HD: d8.
SP: 4.
Skills: Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Local), Listen, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim.
Profs: Martial weapons, all armor, shields.


Guard
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Combat Reflexes

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Adept Opportunist

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Close Quarters Fighting

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|On Your Guard

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Stand Ready

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+2|Reaching Attack

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+2|In The Thick

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+2|Put 'em Down

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+3|Don't Come Close

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+3|Get To The Scene

11th|
+11|
+7|
+3|
+3|Let No One Past

12th|
+12|
+8|
+4|
+4|Back 'em Off

13th|
+13|
+8|
+4|
+4|Call For Backup

14th|
+14|
+9|
+4|
+4|Fear My Steel

15th|
+15|
+9|
+5|
+5|Improved Reaching Attack

16th|
+16|
+10|
+5|
+5|Exploit Inattention

17th|
+17|
+10|
+5|
+5|Devastating Preparedness

18th|
+18|
+11|
+6|
+6|Flee My Wrath

19th|
+19|
+11|
+6|
+6|Intuitive Opportunist

20th|
+20|
+12|
+6|
+6|Full Attack of Opportunity[/table]

Combat Reflexes: Guards are well-trained to keep foes at bay and defend key locations even from groups of opponents. Even the least of guards can often defeat two or three opponents by virtue of taking them down before they get close. All guards receive combat reflexes as a bonus feat.

Adept Opportunist (Ex): The spear or halberd of a trained guard is not an easy thing to avoid. Starting at 2nd level, the guard adds its class level to the DC of any Tumble checks to avoid its attacks of opportunities, and to the DC of checks made to cast defensively while threatened by it. Additionally, the guard adds half its level as a bonus on its damage rolls when making an attack of opportunity, and can make one additional attack of opportunity per round per four class levels.

Close Quarters Fighting (Ex): A 3rd level guard is skilled a bringing its spear in to fight a close enemy. A guard using a reach weapon threatens adjacent squares as well as the weapon’s normal threatened area.

On Your Guard (Ex): Guards excel at keeping melee foes back, but they know that their style has its limits. Archers, spellcasters, and larger foes are all difficult for the guard to combat effectively. However, since the guard doesn’t have to focus on countering offenses against such opponents, it is able to use its defensive training to protect itself from them for long enough to close.

Starting at 4th level, the guard adds half the number of attacks of opportunity it can still make in the current round as a circumstance bonus on its AC and saving throws. As the guard makes attacks of opportunity, the bonus decreases.

Stand Ready (Ex): A 5th level guard is a bastion of defense. It can make an attack of opportunity against any foe within its threatened area who initiates an attack or full attack action against one of its allies (the guard can only make one attack of opportunity in this manner, regardless of how many attacks the foe makes). Additionally, it always counts as having an action readied to attack a foe who charges into its threatened area.

Reaching Attack (Ex): Beginning at 6th level, the guard can thrust to the full extent of its reach to strike a foe, albeit with reduced accuracy. The guard’s reach increases by five feet, but the guard takes a -4 penalty on all attack rolls made into this increased area of reach.

In The Thick (Ex): Beginning at 7th level, a guard becomes skilled at precisely picking its attacks, striking just past allies or guarding foes to get at its target. The guard no longer counts creatures as cover.

Put ‘Em Down (Ex): An 8th level guard is adept at swiping its foes’ feet out from under them with its polearm, an action typically followed by stabbing the foe while it is down. The guard gains improved trip as a bonus feat and can trip foes with a staff, polearm, or similar weapon.

Don’t Come Close (Ex): A 9th level guard is highly skilled at preventing its foes from getting near. It can make an attack of opportunity against a foe who enters a square it threatens. It may still only make one attack of opportunity for the foe’s movement, and effects that bypass or protect against attacks of opportunity for movement (such as a five-foot-step or tumble) still apply.

Get To The Scene (Ex): A 10th level guard is quick to get to where it needs to be. Whether stopping a riot, filling a gap in the city’s wall, or catching a fleeing thief, the guard is there far faster than most warriors. The guard gains run as a bonus feat and when taking a double move action, can move up to three times its speed.

Let No One Past (Ex): Starting at 11th level the guard can make attacks of opportunity against foes taking five-foot-steps or using the withdraw action. Additionally, the guard ignores any penalties to its attack roll for defensive activity (such as fighting defensively or using combat expertise) when making its attacks of opportunity. It can now make attacks of opportunity while taking a total defense action.

Back ‘em Off (Ex): A 12th level guard has become even more skilled at forcing its foes back. As a full-round action, the guard can brandish its weapon and try to force its foes back. Any opponent within the guard’s threatened area who does not leave it on its turn provokes an attack of opportunity from the guard. By using this ability, the guard forgoes making any attacks of opportunity provoked by moving away from it for the rest of the round (a foe who moves towards the guard, even if it intends to leave the guard’s threatened area, still provokes an attack).

Call For Backup (Ex): A 13th level guard can call for backup as a move action. All allies within 60’ can immediately move up to their speed, but they must end this movement closer to the guard than they began.

Fear My Steel (Ex): Starting at 14th level, any opponent who is hit by an attack of opportunity from the guard must make a Will save (DC 10 + ½ guard level + the guard’s Str modifier) or become unable to take any action that would provoke attacks of opportunity from the guard for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Improved Reaching Attack (Ex): A 15th level guard has become totally familiar with attacking at its full reach. It no longer takes an attack roll penalty when attacking at the improved reach allowed by its reaching attack ability.

Exploit Inattention (Ex): Starting at 16th level, a guard can take advantage of a foe that refuses to pay attention to it. Every time the guard makes an attack of opportunity against a foe, it gains a +5 bonus on future melee damage rolls against that opponent. These bonuses stack. The bonus resets to 0 if the guard goes for more than a round without making an attack of opportunity against that foe.

Devastating Preparedness (Ex): A guard of 17th level or higher who attacks a foe who is charging or who charged in the last round increases its damage bonus from power attack by 100%.

Flee My Wrath (Ex): An 18th level guard who successfully uses the fear my steel ability against a foe can force a second saving throw (same DC). On a failure, the foe is instead panicked for one round per guard level. This effect supersedes the effect of fear my steel (so the target may very well provoke attacks from the guard in its attempt to flee). This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Intuitive Opportunist (Ex): A 19th level guard can make attacks of opportunity even against foes with cover (but not total cover), or foes it cannot perceive. It is so honed to danger and the flow of battle that it strikes at such foes with unerring accuracy. The guard ignores all miss chances when making attacks of opportunity. Finally, the guard can make an attack of opportunity against foes who suddenly appear within its threatened area (by teleportation or the like).

Full Attack of Opportunity (Ex): A 20th level guard can make an attack of opportunity for each threatened square an opponent moves through. Each such attack during the same movement uses the next attack in the guard’s full attack routine (including a reduced attack bonus); once the guard runs out of attacks, it can no longer make attacks of opportunity against that instance of movement. The guard can also use this ability to make an attack of opportunity for each attack a foe makes against an ally when using the stand ready ability.

Each full attack of opportunity is resolved separately. For example, a 20th level guard with a halberd of speed (+20/+20/+15/+10/+5) and 10 attacks of opportunity per round could potentially make a complete full attack of opportunity against up to two foes per round, and could still make its normal full attack on its turn.

jindra34
2007-08-12, 08:08 PM
Adept Opportunist (Ex): Adding to DCs is never a good thing... you want add to rolls.
Other than that it looks good.

Nebo_
2007-08-13, 04:23 AM
Adept Opportunist (Ex): Adding to DCs is never a good thing... you want add to rolls.
Other than that it looks good.

I beg to differ. How will adding another roll help if the DC is low enough to pass without rolling?

Yay, now I'm a Dwarf!

Kyace
2007-08-13, 04:57 AM
Interesting to see a melee class with big heavy weapons and can wear full plate who will live or die by dex. The biggest flaw I can see is not balance but the fact that this class could slow combat to a crawl. There'll be a whole lot of new rules for AoO's which is already a subject that players have trouble with and you have a class that appears to be able to make 10 or so melee attacks every round, most of them on the DM's turn.

PS: Congrats on dwarfdom Nebo.