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The Demented One
2007-08-20, 02:47 PM
Raven Commander

The White Raven discipline of the Sublime Way emphasizes command and cooperation, using tactics and teamwork to overcome even the greatest foes. The discipline is embodied in the Raven Commanders. By mastering both the martial techniques of the White Raven and the inspirational abilities of bardic music, they become the ultimate commanders. The tradition of the Raven Commanders extends back to the time of Reshar and the Temple of the Nine Swords. Reshar, the first Master of Nine and leader of the Temple, chose to bestow the Blade of the Last Citadel, the legacy weapon of the White Raven discipline, not upon a warrior, but to a humble Bard, who, inspired by Reshar’s gift, would master the arts of the White Raven, becoming the first Raven Commander. His teachings survived the fall of the Temple, though they have become rare. The few Raven Commanders left in the world almost always hold positions of power and leadership, great warlords and commanders–unless, of course, they choose to abandon their prestige for the life of adventure, leading only their allies to glorious victory.

d10 HD

Requirements
To qualify to become a Raven Commander, you must fulfill all the following criteria.
BAB: +4
Feats: Song of the White Raven
Skills: Diplomacy 8 ranks, Martial Lore 4 ranks, Perform 4 ranks
Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least one White Raven maneuver.
Special: Bardic Music class feature.

Class Skills
The Raven Commander’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Disguise (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (History) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack[br]Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maneuvers[br]Known|Maneuvers[br]Readied|Stances[br]Known

1st|
+1|
+2|
+2|
+0|Bardic Music, Raven’s Grace|0|0|1

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+3|
+0|Clarion Commander|1|0|1

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+3|
+1|Call to Action|1|0|1

4th|
+4|
+4|
+4|
+1|Charge of a Thousand Ravens|2|0|1

5th|
+5|
+4|
+4|
+1|Dance of the White Raven|2|1|1

6th|
+6|
+5|
+5|
+2|Battle Cadence|3|1|2

7th|
+7|
+5|
+5|
+2|White Raven Retribution|3|1|2

8th|
+8|
+6|
+6|
+2|Call to Arms|4|1|2

9th|
+9|
+6|
+6|
+3|Talons of the White Raven |4|2|2

10th|
+10|
+7|
+7|
+3|Charge of the Ascendant Raven|5|2|2[/table]

Class Features
All the following are class features of the Raven Commander prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
You gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Maneuvers
At each even-numbered level, you gain one new maneuver known from the Iron Heart or White Raven disciplines. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. You add your full Raven Commander level to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and the highest level of maneuver you can learn. If you have levels in an initiator class that allows you to exchange out maneuvers at certain levels, your Raven Commander levels stack with your levels in that class for determining when you may exchange maneuvers. At 5th and 9th level, you gain an additional maneuver readied each day.

Stances
At 1st level, and again at 5th level, you gain a new martial stance known from the Iron Heart or White Raven disciplines. You must meet a stance’s prerequisites to learn it.

Bardic Music
Whenever you gain a new Raven Commander level, you gain new daily uses of bardic music as if you had also gained a Bard level. You do not gain any of the Bard’s new bardic music abilities.

Raven’s Grace
At 1st level, you can share your martial prowess with your allies. You must have at least 5 ranks in a Perform skill to use this ability. As a swift action, you may expend a use of bardic music and expend a single one of your readied maneuvers. The maneuver’s level cannot be greater than half your class level, rounded up. A single ally within 60 ft. of you that is able to hear you gains the ability to use that maneuver once, as if he had readied it normally. He uses your own initiator level when initiating the maneuver. He cannot recover the maneuver once he has expended it. Likewise, you cannot recover the expended maneuver until the ally you granted it to has used it.

Clarion Commander (Ex)
At 2nd level, you gain the Clarion Commander feat as a bonus feat. You do not need to meet the feat’s requirements.

Call to Action (Ex)
At 3rd level, you can rally your allies, inspiring them and lending them some of your celerity. You must have at least 7 ranks in a Perform skill to use this ability. As a swift action, you may expend a use of bardic music to grant a single ally within 60 ft. of you an additional move or swift action. The ally must be capable of hearing you. He takes the additional action immediately at your own initiative count -1, and then returns to his normal initiative count. You cannot use this ability to grant yourself an additional action.

Charge of a Thousand Ravens (Ex)
At 4th level, you inspire your allies as they charge towards your foe. Whenever you, or an ally within 60 ft. of you, makes a charge attack, they gain a morale bonus on the attack and damage rolls equal to your Charisma modifier. The bonus is increased by one for every ally who has already made a charge attack that round. If, for some reason, they would normally add your Charisma bonus to either roll, such as if you were using the dance of the white raven ability, then they instead add one and a half times your Charisma bonus to the roll.

Dance of the White Raven (Ex)
At 5th level, you learn the Dance of the White Raven, allowing you and your allies to take to battle emboldened by your charisma. You must have at least 9 ranks in a Perform skill to use this ability. While using this ability, you and all allies within 60 ft. of you that can hear you may add your Charisma bonus to their AC in place of their Dexterity modifier, if your Charisma modifier is higher. In addition, they may add your Charisma modifier, rather than their Strength modifier, on all damage rolls made with melee attacks, if your Charisma modifier is higher. The effects of this bardic music ability last for as long as you concentrate on it and for 5 rounds thereafter.

Battle Cadence (Ex)
At 6th level, you may concentrate to maintain a bardic music effect as a swift, rather than a standard, action.

White Raven Retribution (Ex)
At 7th level, you can hold back when making attacks so that you can defend your allies later. Whenever you make a martial strike, you may take a penalty on your attack roll up to your base attack bonus. If you do, then at any time before the start of your next round, you may take an immediate action to make an attack against any creature within your reach that attacks you or an adjacent ally, gaining a bonus on the attack and damage rolls equal to the penalty you took.

Call to Arms (Ex)
At 8th level, you can bolster your allies confidence, driving them to battle. You must have at least 11 ranks in a Perform skill to use this ability. As a swift action, you may expend two uses of bardic music to grant a single ally within 60 ft. of you an additional standard action. The ally must be capable of hearing you. He takes the additional action immediately at your own initiative count -1, and then returns to his normal initiative count. You cannot use this ability to grant yourself an additional action.

Talons of the White Raven (Ex)
At 9th level, you can strike a foe and throw it off balance, allowing your allies a chance to attack it. Whenever you successfully damage a creature with a maneuver of the White Raven discipline, you may throw it off balance, causing it to provoke attacks of opportunity from all of your allies that it is within the reach of. You may only use this ability once each round. Once you have used this ability, you must wait 5 rounds before you can use it again.

Charge of the Ascendant Raven (Ex and Su)
Once per day, you can lead your allies in the tactical maneuver known as the charge of the ascendant raven, the greatest secret of the Raven Commanders. You can use this ability at the start of a round, before anyone has acted. Once you declare the charge of the ascendant raven, you and all allies within 60 ft. of you may take a 5 ft. step, repositioning to prepare for the charge. In addition, the area with 60 ft. of you is filled with illusory ravens that swoop around the battlefield, heralding your attack. A Will check, DC 10 + 1/2 your initiator level + your Charisma modifier, can be made to disbelieve the ravens.

Whenever your or one of your allies makes a charge that round, the damage dealt by the charge is doubled. In addition, you and your allies do not provoke attacks of opportunity when charging, nor do you block each other when determining if you can charge. If you use a maneuver during the round that grants bonuses to you and your allies when charging, then its effects stack with those of this one, and any additional damage dealt by it is doubled along with the normal attack damage.

TheLogman
2007-08-20, 09:50 PM
Well, this is a pretty awesome Prestige Class. However, I don't play TOB, and don't have it, so I wouldn't know about that whole Maneuver thing.

All in all, it seems like this Prestige Class would most fit commanding a small platoon of 10 or so melee classes, and when he does, he WOULD ROCK!

He also looks like he has the Maneuvers, Stances, and BaB to fight on his own, but really only could truly shine commanding a large group of meleers, preferably in some sort of skirmish or war.

An excellent Prestige Class, and one that does exactly what a prestige class should, it takes one or two specific facets of classes, and amplifies them to the level of OMGWTFBBQ level.

In addition, a Bard using an Illusion spell to create illusionary Ravens, (Or just using Raven Swarms from the ToM) and then using the Capstone would be awesome, I can just imagine the fear in the eyes of the victims as hundreds of Illusionary (Or real) ravens charge at them, followed by a mass of melee fighters, all with malice in their eyes.

The Demented One
2007-08-20, 10:06 PM
In addition, a Bard using an Illusion spell to create illusionary Ravens, (Or just using Raven Swarms from the ToM) and then using the Capstone would be awesome, I can just imagine the fear in the eyes of the victims as hundreds of Illusionary (Or real) ravens charge at them, followed by a mass of melee fighters, all with malice in their eyes.
Ooh, that goes in. That goes in.

knightsaline
2007-08-20, 10:06 PM
The long since defunct fanclub wishes to know if there will be a PrC focusing in on the "tenth" discipline, the one Reshar did not think was worthy of mentioning, the path of the Sublime Way that does not use swords, but bows.

Can it be Falling Star PrC teims now? kthksbai

The Demented One
2007-08-20, 10:20 PM
The long since defunct fanclub wishes to know if there will be a PrC focusing in on the "tenth" discipline, the one Reshar did not think was worthy of mentioning, the path of the Sublime Way that does not use swords, but bows.

Can it be Falling Star PrC teims now? kthksbai
You mean this guy? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38113&highlight=falling+star)

knightsaline
2007-08-20, 11:25 PM
*head desks repeatedly*

Thought you were Fax, since he seems to be the one to make all the ToB stuff, like VT is for mind violating monsters (Its not what they do, but what they are).

*head desks again*

If you think that it is a compliment to be mistaken for Fax, then do so.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2007-08-22, 12:39 AM
I dig this class. I also noticed you were having trouble coming up with a warlock/martial adept one. And here's my idea; Crusader/Warlock PrC devoted to demonkind and the abyss. Eh? huh? yeah.

...Kickin' class.