BRC
2008-01-18, 01:10 AM
The Canny Swordsman
The Brigand was built like a bear, he wielded a sword that would have impressed an ogre with it’s sheer size, he was wearing the top half of a suit of battered plate mail armor. He grinned with the expression of a bully taking a sweet from a toddler
The Man was a little over five feet tall, clad in scale mail armor over a suit of comfortable pants, he held a longsword in one hand and a buckler in the other.
The brigand scoffed, his plate armor rattling with his booming laugh “You call THAT a sword. I cut my bread with a sword bigger then that!”
The man gazed at the brigand. “If what you have is a sword, what I have is an aggressive butter knife. However, since what I have is a sword, what you are wielding is little more then a metal club with an edge put on it. You will rush me, counting on your vast strength to overpower my parry, which indeed it would if I tried to parry, instead I will sidestep you and hamstring your left leg, you obviously salvaged that armor because your only wearing the top half of it, which means you will be very top heavy. And with that “Sword” of yours, you’ll fall right into the dirt. Your face will land”
The man scratched an X into the dusty road with his blade “Right there”.
An hour later some merchants found the corpse of a massive man with a large sword and ill-fitting armor lying in the road. For some reason somebody had scratched an X in the road, with the dead brigand’s nose smack dab in the center. The Canny Swordsmen
There is no real orginization of canny swordsmen, however those swordsmen who fully understand that a sharp mind can be more usefull then a sharp blade keep track of and hold a measure of respect for one another. though occasionally a clever swordsman will develop the style of the canny swordsman on their own, usually an existing canny swordsman trains a promising novice in the basics before letting them figure the rest out for themselves.
Requirements
Int 14, Martial weapon focus, Combat Expertise.
The Canny Swordsman
{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+2| Testing Defense, Testing Attack.
2nd|
+2|
+0|
+0|
+3|
3rd|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+3| Skilled Disarm
4th|
+4|
+1|
+1|
+4|
5th|
+5|
+1|
+1|
+4|Counterweight
6th|
+6|
+2|
+2|
+5|Skilled Trip
7th|
+7|
+2|
+2|
+5|
8th|
+8|
+2|
+2|
+6|Learn From Success
9th|
+9|
+3|
+3|
+6|Learn From Mistakes
10th|
+10|
+3|
+3|
+7|Blinding Counterattack[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Canny Swordsman gains no additional Weapon or Armor proficiencies.
Testing Attack: A Canny Swordsman may, by focusing less on her attack and more on her opponent’s response, test an opponent’s defenses. By taking a -2 penalty on attack rolls, the Canny Swordsmen gains a 1 Competence bonus to attacks made against that foe for the duration of the encounter. A testing attack may not work against some creatures such as oozes. Making such an attack is a Simple Action. The total attack bonus from testing Attack plus the total AC bonus of testing defense cannot exceed the Canny Swordsman’s class level plus their Int modifier.
Testing Defense: by focusing less on their defense and more on their opponents attack, a canny swordsman can learn how better to defend against the next attack. By taking -2 AC penalty against one attack, the Canny Swordsmen then gains a +1 Competence bonus to AC against further attacks from that foe for the duration of the encounter. The total attack bonus from Testing Attack plus the total AC bonus of Testing Defense cannot exceed the Canny Swordsman’s class level plus their Int modifier.
Skilled Disarm: if a Canny Swordsmen has an attack bonus gained from Testing Attack of at least +3 against a foe, they may make a disarm attempt with a +4 bonus.
Counterweight: The Canny Swordsman may, for a price of 1000gp, have a buckler or light off-handed weapon modified to act as a perfect counterweight for their main hand weapon (Providing it is not a light weapon), providing a +2 attack bonus with the main weapon while the counterweight is being wielded in the other hand. Each counterweight must be made for a specific weapon, and it costs 200gp to modify an existing counterweight. If you use a counterweight bar (Provides no other benefit besides the counterweight), all the costs are halved.
Skilled Trip: If a Canny Swordsmen has an AC bonus gained from Testing Defense of at least +3 against a foe, they may make a trip attempt against that foe at a +4 bonus.
Learn From Success: If a Canny Swordsmen deals a critical hit against a foe, they gain a +1 bonus to attacks as if they had made a Testing Attack. If the critical was scored on a testing attack then the bonuses stack. In addition they get a +2 bonus on attack rolls to confirm critical hits against that foe
Learn From Mistakes: If an attack against a Canny Swordsman is a Critical threat (regardless of whether it is confirmed), the Canny Swordsmen gains a +1 AC bonus against further attacks from that foe as if she had made a Testing Defense. If the critical threat was scored against a Testing Defense then the bonuses stack. In addition, the foe gets a -2 penalty on attack rolls to confirm critical hits against the Canny Swordsman.
Blinding Counterattack: If a Canny Swordsman has both an AC and Attack Bonus (Gained from testing attack and testing defense) of plus three against a foe they may make a blinding counterattack. The use of Blinding Counterattack must be declared when the Canny Swordsman is attacked. First they gain a -4 penalty to armor class against the attack, then they make a bluff check with a +5 modifier as if they were Feinting against the opponent. The canny swordsman then makes an attack at their highest Base Attack Bonus against the foe. If the Canny Swordsmen succeeded on the feint check, her opponent is considered Flat Footed for the purpose of this attack.
Any Comments, especially concerning Blinding Counterattack. I like the idea, but I think it's not crunching out right.
The Brigand was built like a bear, he wielded a sword that would have impressed an ogre with it’s sheer size, he was wearing the top half of a suit of battered plate mail armor. He grinned with the expression of a bully taking a sweet from a toddler
The Man was a little over five feet tall, clad in scale mail armor over a suit of comfortable pants, he held a longsword in one hand and a buckler in the other.
The brigand scoffed, his plate armor rattling with his booming laugh “You call THAT a sword. I cut my bread with a sword bigger then that!”
The man gazed at the brigand. “If what you have is a sword, what I have is an aggressive butter knife. However, since what I have is a sword, what you are wielding is little more then a metal club with an edge put on it. You will rush me, counting on your vast strength to overpower my parry, which indeed it would if I tried to parry, instead I will sidestep you and hamstring your left leg, you obviously salvaged that armor because your only wearing the top half of it, which means you will be very top heavy. And with that “Sword” of yours, you’ll fall right into the dirt. Your face will land”
The man scratched an X into the dusty road with his blade “Right there”.
An hour later some merchants found the corpse of a massive man with a large sword and ill-fitting armor lying in the road. For some reason somebody had scratched an X in the road, with the dead brigand’s nose smack dab in the center. The Canny Swordsmen
There is no real orginization of canny swordsmen, however those swordsmen who fully understand that a sharp mind can be more usefull then a sharp blade keep track of and hold a measure of respect for one another. though occasionally a clever swordsman will develop the style of the canny swordsman on their own, usually an existing canny swordsman trains a promising novice in the basics before letting them figure the rest out for themselves.
Requirements
Int 14, Martial weapon focus, Combat Expertise.
The Canny Swordsman
{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+2| Testing Defense, Testing Attack.
2nd|
+2|
+0|
+0|
+3|
3rd|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+3| Skilled Disarm
4th|
+4|
+1|
+1|
+4|
5th|
+5|
+1|
+1|
+4|Counterweight
6th|
+6|
+2|
+2|
+5|Skilled Trip
7th|
+7|
+2|
+2|
+5|
8th|
+8|
+2|
+2|
+6|Learn From Success
9th|
+9|
+3|
+3|
+6|Learn From Mistakes
10th|
+10|
+3|
+3|
+7|Blinding Counterattack[/table]
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Canny Swordsman gains no additional Weapon or Armor proficiencies.
Testing Attack: A Canny Swordsman may, by focusing less on her attack and more on her opponent’s response, test an opponent’s defenses. By taking a -2 penalty on attack rolls, the Canny Swordsmen gains a 1 Competence bonus to attacks made against that foe for the duration of the encounter. A testing attack may not work against some creatures such as oozes. Making such an attack is a Simple Action. The total attack bonus from testing Attack plus the total AC bonus of testing defense cannot exceed the Canny Swordsman’s class level plus their Int modifier.
Testing Defense: by focusing less on their defense and more on their opponents attack, a canny swordsman can learn how better to defend against the next attack. By taking -2 AC penalty against one attack, the Canny Swordsmen then gains a +1 Competence bonus to AC against further attacks from that foe for the duration of the encounter. The total attack bonus from Testing Attack plus the total AC bonus of Testing Defense cannot exceed the Canny Swordsman’s class level plus their Int modifier.
Skilled Disarm: if a Canny Swordsmen has an attack bonus gained from Testing Attack of at least +3 against a foe, they may make a disarm attempt with a +4 bonus.
Counterweight: The Canny Swordsman may, for a price of 1000gp, have a buckler or light off-handed weapon modified to act as a perfect counterweight for their main hand weapon (Providing it is not a light weapon), providing a +2 attack bonus with the main weapon while the counterweight is being wielded in the other hand. Each counterweight must be made for a specific weapon, and it costs 200gp to modify an existing counterweight. If you use a counterweight bar (Provides no other benefit besides the counterweight), all the costs are halved.
Skilled Trip: If a Canny Swordsmen has an AC bonus gained from Testing Defense of at least +3 against a foe, they may make a trip attempt against that foe at a +4 bonus.
Learn From Success: If a Canny Swordsmen deals a critical hit against a foe, they gain a +1 bonus to attacks as if they had made a Testing Attack. If the critical was scored on a testing attack then the bonuses stack. In addition they get a +2 bonus on attack rolls to confirm critical hits against that foe
Learn From Mistakes: If an attack against a Canny Swordsman is a Critical threat (regardless of whether it is confirmed), the Canny Swordsmen gains a +1 AC bonus against further attacks from that foe as if she had made a Testing Defense. If the critical threat was scored against a Testing Defense then the bonuses stack. In addition, the foe gets a -2 penalty on attack rolls to confirm critical hits against the Canny Swordsman.
Blinding Counterattack: If a Canny Swordsman has both an AC and Attack Bonus (Gained from testing attack and testing defense) of plus three against a foe they may make a blinding counterattack. The use of Blinding Counterattack must be declared when the Canny Swordsman is attacked. First they gain a -4 penalty to armor class against the attack, then they make a bluff check with a +5 modifier as if they were Feinting against the opponent. The canny swordsman then makes an attack at their highest Base Attack Bonus against the foe. If the Canny Swordsmen succeeded on the feint check, her opponent is considered Flat Footed for the purpose of this attack.
Any Comments, especially concerning Blinding Counterattack. I like the idea, but I think it's not crunching out right.