The Common Hero (3.5 Commoner PrC, PEACH)

The Common Hero

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"How are you beating me? You don't even have thumbs!" "Hisssssss!"

For too long, the feline menace has oppressed you. Mankind cannot stand idly by while the cats of the world unite against them! The common hero is one of the chosen few who step up to protect us against the evil that is our natural predator, the cat.

Prerequisites:
To become a Common Hero, you must meet the following prerequisites:
BAB:+2
Base Saves: Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +1
Special: Must have killed a cat in single combat without magical aid of any kind.

HD: d4
Class Skills: The common hero treats all skills as cross-class
Skill Points Per Level: 2+Int modifier (minimum 1 per level)

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

1st|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|Smite Cat, Sneaky!

2nd|

+1

|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|Detect Cat

3rd|

+1

|

+1

|

+1

|

+1

|Aura of Courage

4th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+1

|Favored Enemy (Felis Domesticus) +2

5th|

+2

|

+1

|

+1

|

+1

|Speak with Cats

6th|

+3

|

+2

|

+2

|

+2

|Kick the Cat

7th|

+3

|

+2

|

+2

|

+2

|Have Your Pet Spayed or Neutered

8th|

+4

|

+2

|

+2

|

+2

|Favored Enemy (Felis Domesticus) +4

9th|

+4

|

+3

|

+3

|

+3

|Dog Person

10th|

+5

|

+3

|

+3

|

+3

|Cat Form
[/table]

Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The common hero is proficient with all simple weapons, as well as all improvised weapons, such as forks and rolled-up newspapers. He still only deals nonlethal damage with most improvised weapons.

Smite Cat (Ex): You gain the ability to Smite Cats. When you make a melee attack against a cat, you may empower yourself by yelling something like "This is for my mother!" or "Death to the Socialist Feline Empire!" You receive no bonus on the attack roll or on damage checks, but you will probably feel really good about yourself if you manage to hit. (Actual Smiting is for PCs and stuff anyway)

You have no daily limit on your ability to Smite Cats, but you probably still want to do it sparingly, as it might draw attention to those around you who do not know the secret motives of the SFE and would actually try and defend the Tiny monster against what they see as a crazy homeless guy hitting an innocent cat with a stick.

Sneaky! (Ex): Those cats and their stupid racial bonus to Move Silently. That's evolution for you. As a hunted turning into a hunter, you receive a bonus on Listen checks equal to your class level. (Just pray that the damned things don't figure out how to activate wands in Feline or we're all screwed!)

Detect Cat (Ex): As a common hero, it is your duty to always know where the evil warriors of the Socialist Feline Empire are hiding (And with a +8 Size bonus on Hide checks, you've got your work cut out for you). However, the great god Pelor does not want His loyal subjects to die, and so He has gifted us with divine power in order to smite His foes!

As a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity, you may sprinkle some catnip on the ground. Any cat within 30 ft must make a Will save (DC 13) or approach the catnip. Once they have reached the catnip, they will enjoy its smell for 1 round, and then the effect will end.

You may use this ability 3 times per day. Sorry, but catnip is expensive. When you wake up, though, you will find that we will have replenished your catnip supply while you were asleep.

Aura of Courage (Ex): Everyone knows that cats are evil, bloodthirsty creatures that will kill you as soon as look at you. And they are also incredibly fast, come with their own natural weapons, and could be anywhere, even right behind you!

Hah! Made you look! But seriously, you need to do your best to not wet yourself every time you see one of those fuzzballs walking down the road.

Starting at 3rd level, a common hero becomes immune to the Frightful Presence of cats, as if he were a cat of their level.

Favored Enemy (Felis Domesticus) (Ex): Okay, so we've all studied the evil that is a housecat. If rangers can use a book to get better at killing them, so can we!...You did read the manual, right?

Starting at 4th level, the common hero receives a +2 bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Survival checks made against cats. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level.

Speak with Cats (Ex): Once we learn to communicate with them, we will be able to beg for mercy and surrender to their Feline Overlord. Maybe they'll spare our lives that way. Okay, so repeat after me: "Mew meow mewmew meow- Feed me, inferior bipedal life form!"

Starting at 5th level, the common hero gains Feline as a bonus language. This does not allow him to actually converse with cats, but is instead a secret language like Druidic that allows him to speak with other common heroes. (It also oddly repels PCs, as when they stop in town and see two men purring at each other, they head in the opposite direction)

Kick the Cat (Ex): Let's face it, we've all been there. Those little bastards can come out of nowhere! And if you didn't defend yourself, where would you be? Dead in an alley somewhere, with his territory marked all over your face!

A 6th level common hero receives Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. This only applies to attacks he makes with a foot, and only if that foot is covered by a shoe or boot. However, because his unarmed strike is reinforced by a boot, it deals 1d4 damage instead of 1d3. The common hero is also allowed to make reflexive attacks of opportunity (An AoO you make while flat-footed, but you cannot consciously decide to do it. Once the AoO is provoked, you reflexively make it, whether you wanted to or not)

The conditions for the reflexive attack of opportunity are this: a cat has entered the common hero's threatened square, and the common hero is unaware the cat is there. The cat must make is presence known by either mewing or rubbing against the common hero's leg. The common hero immediately makes a reflexive attack of opportunity with his foot. If he succeeds, the cat is pushed 1d3*10' away, as if it were a thrown weapon that the common hero attacked with. Or a football.

Have Your Pet Spayed or Neutered (Ex): So, sometimes killing one of those felinazis is inappropriate. Such as when it's the mayor's cat, or perhaps your wife's and she just won't listen to reason. That's why we teach you to at least prevent them from multiplying.

Starting at 7th level, a common hero may offer his services to spay or neuter a cat. In most campaign settings, this technology has not been invented yet, so the common hero will generally have to improvise. The common hero makes a DC 30 Heal check, with a -4 penalty if he uses no tools or a -2 penalty if he uses improvised tools. He may make this Heal check untrained.

If the common hero fails the check, the cat will rise up against oppression, attacking him without warning and forcing him to strike it down in defense of his life. (Failing the check provokes an attack of opportunity)

If the common hero succeeds the check, the cat survives the procedure, taking 1d4 nonlethal slashing damage if it's male, and then attacks the common hero for attempting major surgery without any appropriate anesthetic.

Dog Person (Ex): Men, you're warriors. Fighting and dying for a cause. A cause that unfortunately, most people are unaware of. While that is a good thing, and we're fighting the good fight to keep our kids safe and happy, it would really be nice if we could brag about it once in a while to pick up chicks. But you know, what can you do?

Starting at 9th level, a common hero receives his Favored Enemy bonus to the listed checks made with other commoners who identify themselves as "dog persons". The common hero immediately loses this bonus if he starts talking about how his life's mission is to save the world from the Domesticated Menace (generally about 1d6 minutes into any given conversation)

Cat Form (Ex): At 10th level, you have probably killed more cats and survived (or killed more cats and been reincarnated a few times by very patient and money-hungry PCs who happened to be passing through town) than any other man in the city! Finally, you are ready to sneak into their secret cat meetings and learn of their plans!

Starting at 10th level, the common hero gains the ability to disguise himself as a cat. This action takes about ten minutes, and requires a disguise kit that is provided to him once he reaches 10th level. (The disguise kit includes 10 uses of face paint, whiskers, kitty ears, a clip on tail from a Pin the Tail on the Donkey game, and knee pads)

While disguised, the common hero receives a +10 bonus on Disguise checks when pretending to be legally insane, (+20 if he speaks Feline while doing so) and a -10 penalty on all social checks made with any creature with Intelligence. If he approaches a cat in this form, he provokes an attack of opportunity.

Funny. The housecat's taxonomic name is felis domesticus, however.

lol, very funyy. I will use this in my capmpaign.

LOL :smallbiggrin:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zimmerwald1915

Funny. The housecat's taxonomic name is felis domesticus, however.

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Gotcha. Fixing that now.

Loool :smalltongue:
What would commoners do without you, Neoseraphi?
You just saved their lives :smalltongue:

Only problem is Cats have they're minions: the Penguins.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cipherthe3vil

Only problem is Cats have they're minions: the Penguins.

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Seems they're doomed, anyways.
Good try, though :smallbiggrin:

I...uh...gdjuh...Oh, now I get it :smallbiggrin:

Clever, I like it!

Idea: Give him a bonus on touch attack rolls against cats.

Because as we all know, the best way to take out a cat is with a grapple.

Does Cat Form qualify him for Warshaper? Please say yes. :smallbiggrin:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Treblain

Does Cat Form qualify him for Warshaper? Please say yes. :smallbiggrin:

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Lol, unfortunately I believe Warshaper requires a Supernatural ability...so I guess it's the DM's call :smallbiggrin:

Well, there isn't much in the way of disadvantages that this class offers, seems like every commoner would want to take it:smallsmile: Well, it is quiet funny (smite cat, not really giving you any bonus, you just feel good because you landed a hit with the attack bonus of a commoner).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 137ben

Well, there isn't much in the way of disadvantages that this class offers, seems like every commoner would want to take it:smallsmile: Well, it is quiet funny (smite cat, not really giving you any bonus, you just feel good because you landed a hit with the attack bonus of a commoner).

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That's basically the idea of the class, a bunch of commoners trying to be like PCs and faking classic PC abilities. (Claiming you can detect cats by using catnip, pretending to wild shape into a cat with Cat Form, Smiting cats without a real bonus, trying to "speak with cats" but really just mewing and hissing a lot, etc)

Edit: What really made me laugh was the Favored Enemy bonus, though. Since I took away the bonus to damage rolls, and the bonus to Listen checks is overlapped by Sneaky, it only grants you a bonus on social skills versus cats and Survival checks...so...yeah.

Does anyone else have any opinions or suggestions for this class?

I dunno, it's funny, but it's not really supposed to do anything practical (other than annoy cats), so mission accomplished.

Favored enemy still says "Felix Domesticus" in the text, rather than "Felis Domesticus" (the table is good).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Garryl

I dunno, it's funny, but it's not really supposed to do anything practical (other than annoy cats), so mission accomplished.

Favored enemy still says "Felix Domesticus" in the text, rather than "Felis Domesticus" (the table is good).

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Yeah, but I mean, commoners don't really have anything else to spend their levels on (certainly not at level 4) so I don't see the problem with providing a funny alternative to...erm...no class features.

Thanks for pointing that out. I fixed it.

Perhaps some feats to go with the PrC?

Cat o' Nine Tails

Prerequisites: Smite Cat class feature

Benefits: You gain proficiency with the Exotic Weapon Cat o' Nine Tails. A Cat o' Nine Tails is created by making a Craft (Are You Serious) check, DC 5. You make take 10 on the check. The cost is nothing, but it requires material components in the form of a club and a dead cat. In order to make the Cat o' Nine Tails, you tie the cat to the club and wield it like a flail. A Cat o' Nine Tails deals 1d4+Str mod nonlethal damage. It threatens a critical on a natural 20 and deals x2 damage. A Cat o' Nine Tails does not have reach. Making a masterwork Cat o' Nine Tails requires a masterwork cat, usually a Persian or some other purebred with a pedigree. A masterwork Cat o' Nine Tails may be enchanted as a magic weapon.

Normal: You take a -4 penalty to all melee attack rolls made with a dead cat tied to a stick.


How's that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zimmerwald1915

Funny. The housecat's taxonomic name is felis domesticus, however.

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Actually, it's felis catus. Well, both are acceptable, IIRC. But I prefer the latter.