Aberrant Armorlord [PrC]

Aberrant Armorlord
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...rrantArmor.jpg
Karquss Vostch, daelkyr halfblood aberrant armorlord

There are some warriors who rely on steel armor and weapons of the forge, some rely on quickness and their own hands as weapons. Aberrant armorlords are the masters of small symbionts that grant special natural bonuses. They use this small creature to grow a bony suit of armor and powerful natural weapons to destroy their foes. This armor also latches deep into the bodies of their wearers and improves their physical power in all aspects. Most aberrant armorlords keep their nature hidden from the populace, as their armor is often terrible to behold and often even sickening. A few in societies of magic or ones that accept aberrant terrors welcome these warriors as guardians and champions of their society, as most aberrant armorlords are indeed fierce combatants.

HD: d12

Requirements
Alignment: Any nonlawful
BAB: +6
Skills: Knowledge (dungeoneering or the planes) 4 ranks
Feats: Armor Proficiency (medium), Improved Toughness
Maneuvers: Ability to use 3rd level maneuvers of the Far Realm discipline, including one stance and one strike.
Special: Must have allowed a small parasite into your central nervous system, and the parts of your brain that control your muscles. This process is the central controller of the Aberrant Armor class feature(see below).

Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (the planes), Martial Lore, Swim, and Tumble.
Skill-points per level: 4+Int modifier

{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+1|+2|+2|+0|Aberrant armor, armor +4
2nd|+2|+3|+3|+0|Speed in armor
3rd|+3|+3|+3|+1|Bonus feat
4th|+4|+4|+4|+1|Agility in armor, armor +6
5th|+5|+4|+4|+1|Stance of aberrant weapons
6th|+6|+5|+5|+2|Strength in armor
7th|+7|+5|+5|+2|Bonus feat, armor +8
8th|+8|+6|+6|+2|Durability in armor
9th|+9|+6|+6|+3|Stance of twisted power
10th|+10|+7|+7|+3|Constant armor
[/table]

{table="head"]Level|Man. Known|Man. Readied|Stances Known
1st|1|0|0
2nd|1|0|0
3rd|0|1|0
4th|1|0|0
5th|1|0|0
6th|0|0|1
7th|1|0|0
8th|1|1|0
9th|0|0|0
10th|1|0|0
[/table]

Weapon and armor proficiencies: Aberrant armorlords receive no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Maneuvers: At each level except 3rd, 6th, and 9th, an aberrant armorlord gains new maneuvers known from the Diamond Mind, Far Realm, Stone Dragon and Tiger Claw disciplines. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. You add your full aberrant armorlord levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.
At levels 3rd, and 8th, you gain additional maneuvers readied per day.

Stances Known: At 5th level, you learn a new martial stance from the Diamond Mind, Far Realm, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw disciplines. You must meet the stances prerequisites to learn it.

Aberrant Armor (Ex): At 1st level, you are fully capable of activating the aberration in your brain to grow a suit of twisted, bony armor around your body. As a full-round action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, you grow strange plates that resemble that of bones similar to your own skeleton. This armor is not natural armor, but provides an armor bonus to your armor class as though it were manufactured. It is considered to be medium armor with a max Dex bonus of +6 and a penalty to all skills effected by armor check penalty of -3. This armor can be enhanced just armor normal armor can, and takes up the armor magic item slot.
This armor can remain active for a number of rounds equal to your initiator level per encounter and can be deactivated as a free action. If deactivated it cannot be reactivated again during the same encounter.
At first level, the armor bonus granted by this armor is +4. At 4th level, the bonus improves to +6 and improves again to +8 at 7th level.

Speed in Armor (Ex): At 2nd level, your armor grants greater speed. Your base land speed improves by 30 feet while your armor is active. At 10th level this bonus improves to +60 feet.

Bonus Feats: At 3rd level and again at 7th level, you gain a bonus fighter feat for which you qualify.

Agility in Armor (Ex): At 4th level, your armor strengthens your mental ability to act reflexively and the muscle tone to dodge and weave better. While your aberrant armor is active, you gain a +2 bonus to your Dex score. At 10th level this bonus increases to +4.

Stance of Aberrant Weapons (Ex): At 5th level, your armor provides not only protection but natural offensive power. You may drop the benefits of any other stance you know to gain the benefits of this one as a swift action. While in this stance, you grow several natural weapons which are part of your armor. You gain two claw attacks that deal appropriate claw damage for your size category. Additionally, you grow one tentacle attack for each aberrant armorlord level you possess. These weapons are considered magical weapons for overcoming damage reduction. The claws are considered primary natural attacks, and the tentacles are considered secondary natural weapons. The claws have a natural reach of 5 feet, but the tentacles may be used at a distance of 15 feet.
A final benefit of this stance is a certain special sensitivity to vibrations in your claws and tentacles, granting you blindsense out to 30 feet. At 10th level this blindsense goes out to 60 feet.

Strength in Armor (Ex): At 6th level, your armor increases your muscle tone and physical strength. While your aberrant armor is active, you gain a +2 bonus to your Str score. At 10th level this bonus increases to +4.

Durability in Armor (Ex): At 8th level, your armor not only provides protection, but actual physical resiliency. While your aberrant armor is active, you gain a +2 bonus to your Con score. At 10th level this bonus increases to +4.

Stance of Twisted Power (Su): At 9th level, your ability to fight in your aberrant armor increases an incredible amount. You may drop the benefits of any other stance you know to gain the benefits of this one as a swift action. While in this stance, you retain the claw attacks from the stance of aberrant weapons, but not the tentacle attacks. Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus to all physical ability scores which stack from other ability boosts granted by this class. You are also considered to be under the effects of a constant haste spell with a caster level equal to your initiator level. Lastly, while in your aberrant armor, you gain DR 10/magic and bludgeoning.

Constant Armor (Ex): At 10th level, you and your armor become almost one being. You may have your armor out at all times instead of for a temporary amount of time, and is both activated and deactivated as a swift action. Your type changes to aberration, you gain darkvision out to 60 feet and once per round you may make a claw attack(using your stance of aberrant weapons) with a reach of 15 feet. Lastly, the damage reduction granted by the stance of twisted power increases to 15/magic and bludgeoning.

Oooh, I like.

In my campaign world I've already integrated this idea of symbiotes... when a truly evil villain of sufficient power is slain, his body is oft consumed by a slimy grub about two feet long called a gwerm, who eats the character from the inside out upon his death. These gwerms are the building blocks for creating new demons, and one of the prime reasons that evil outsiders have such a reputation for corrupting and tempting mortals. Lizardfolk tribes have developed rituals to implant a gwerm into a powerful warrior, though as they progress the will of the symbiote awakens gradually, twisting the mind of its user, and upon higher levels even being able to cast suggestion and dominate upon him.

One of the abilities granted by the symbiote was to grant the user bony armor equivalent to a chain shirt... but a whole class devoted to using it! I like it a lot. Especially since we wanted to give the user some kind of tentacle-based ability, but everything that we thought of was too powerful for it to be not a class ability.

A couple of questions, could you expound a bit upon this stance and maneuver system, and why you like it? (or link to a place where it's discussed well) I've never used it before, but it piques my interest. The rules for it are in the Tome of Blood or something?

Also: the dmg reduction 10/magic and bludgeoning seems like a very significant increase in power along with the ability to be hasted constantly every battle and getting +4 to all physical stats (does this mean that the user is getting +8 total Con?)

Finally, are tentacle attacks damage dice normal for a claw attack of the user's size? (like 1d4 for medium, I think)

Should there be a note about the user becoming eligible for the multi-attack feat?


In any case I like this class idea a lot, I think I'm going to integrate it into my setting.

Would you have any objection if I posted a slightly edited version on my http://tearsofchaos.wikispaces.com/Introduction? I'll give you cred for the class, naturally.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JGPyre

A couple of questions, could you expound a bit upon this stance and maneuver system, and why you like it? (or link to a place where it's discussed well) I've never used it before, but it piques my interest. The rules for it are in the Tome of Blood or something?

---

Stances and maneuvers are superficially like spells, except based on per-encounter and are recoverable. Stances are always active as long as you're awake, but you can have only one active at a time. They're not as powerful as arcane or divine spells by a huge margin, but they're more powerful than normal meleeists like paladins and fighters.
The reason I like it so much is because it's not as boring as I find fighters. Instead of "I do another full attack." you can say "I expend Mountain Tombstone Strike and Bloodletting Strike as a boost and deal 2d6+21 damage and 2d6+4 Con damage." It's really far more satisfying.
And the name of the book you're looking for is Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JGPyre

Also: the dmg reduction 10/magic and bludgeoning seems like a very significant increase in power along with the ability to be hasted constantly every battle and getting +4 to all physical stats (does this mean that the user is getting +8 total Con?)

---

Yeah, that might be a bit powerful, I'll either downgrade it or make a compensatory drawback.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JGPyre

Finally, are tentacle attacks damage dice normal for a claw attack of the user's size? (like 1d4 for medium, I think)

Should there be a note about the user becoming eligible for the multi-attack feat?

---

I believe so... Yeah, I think they're both 1d4 for medium. And I don't think it needs to have a note for the Multiattack feat, though I suppose it couldn't hurt to mention it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JGPyre

In any case I like this class idea a lot, I think I'm going to integrate it into my setting.

Would you have any objection if I posted a slightly edited version on my http://tearsofchaos.wikispaces.com/Introduction? I'll give you cred for the class, naturally.

---

I'm glad you like it, and sure thing.:biggrin:

Smells like Witchblade...

Enough fooling around, good work boy.

The damage reduction doesn't look like such a big deal to me. You are getting it at level 16 (minimal) while... A lich, for instance, would be getting it at ECL 15.

You should also stat the damage of the claws/tentacles for each size category. Tentacle 1d4 and claw 1d6 for medium creatures seens reasonable.

So... The armor is enchantable, are the claws/tentacles? Or are we forced to rely on an Amulet of Mighty Fists for actual enchantment bonuses? (Because the damage reduction /Magic means their weapons should already defeat similar DR)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Guyr Adamantine

Smells like Witchblade...

Enough fooling around, good work boy.

---

Check that, someone's been reading Abara...

Either way, it's a pretty fun looking class. Just yesterday I was toying around with making a country in a campaign setting entirely derived on symbiotes.

Ooh, I like. Hell, all your homebrews are pretty awesome. :smalltongue:
My campaign's pretty Aberration-heavy (Symbionts especially), so this will fit in perfectly.

However, something has occurred to me. This is a class that allows the player to transform into a magical costume which provides all sorts of athletic bonuses and has showy attacks in the form of maneuvers.

Give it a flavour change and it's a Power Ranger. :smallbiggrin:

Because something as twisted and maddening as Power Rangers could have only come out of the Far Realms. It all makes sense now!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DracoDei

Because something as twisted and maddening as Power Rangers could have only come out of the Far Realms. It all makes sense now!

---

Exactly! :smalltongue:

Very cool, I've been looking for Class like this. Question, about the art, where is the art from, and what is it?

Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by otakulrd86

Very cool, I've been looking for Class like this. Question, about the art, where is the art from, and what is it?

Thanks

---

Abara. It's pretty awesome, if not a bit graphic.

Thank you, I'll have to take a look at Abara, again great job, your stuff is always the best TOB material I've seen outside of the main source material.

cool stuff. i love that discipline; using it to create an epic level npc for a campaign i'm doing.

question: at level ten, he can use a claw attack at up to 15 away in the stance of aberrant weapons. can he also do that at tenth level in the stance of twisted power?

maybe at 3rd or 5th level or so, let the armor become the equivalent of masterwork armor.

Lady's and Gentlemen, we have a great tob prc for witchblade fans.
If you think about it. It fits very well, the insanity of the style plus the other styles it can use an the boost of stats and the speed boost, I mean good grief.

Oh would it be a stretch to drop this style into the styles it can learn?
Chthonic Serpent

Where did the pic come from?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Harperfan7

Where did the pic come from?

---

Abara. Fun little manga, that.

Great class! I like it very, very much. I'll have to try to find some way to play it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LunarWolfPrime

Oh would it be a stretch to drop this style into the styles it can learn?
Chthonic Serpent

---

Hehe, I know I did.

Awesome class, Krimm. Very much looking forward to playing my not-quite-Illithid Aberrant Armorlord, hehe!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DragoonWraith

Hehe, I know I did.

Awesome class, Krimm. Very much looking forward to playing my not-quite-Illithid Aberrant Armorlord, hehe!

---

Ooh, I'd like to see that character.

Hmm... why did you make it good Ref saves? Will seems much more appropriate...