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Sup! So I found these on dndwiki.com (yes THAT site), anyway I don't know 3.5 well enough to judge them reliably, and as scythe's give me wingboner's I was wondering if anypony can help me out! Thanks in advance!
Whirling Reaper
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Whirlin...stige_Class%29
Acolyte of the Scythe
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Acolyte...stige_Class%29
I'll give this a shot:
Whirling Reaper: Seems fine; it's a reasonably solid melee PRC in the spirit of a lot of Complete Warrior's classes. It can do some silly things with a high enough critical hit range, but I don't see anything broken (optimizing crits to be greater than 15-20 is pretty hard to do anyhow). It's probably just +.5 Tiers in terms of power (ie, a Fighter 5/Whirling Reaper 10 will be significantly more powerful than a Fighter 15), but the classes that most easily leap into it are classes that could use a power boost anyhow. Even then, it just adds extra AC, damage, and mobility. Unless your campaign is nothing but straight fighters and blaster wizards, this class shouldn't be a major balance issue. I'd allow this in a campaign without modification in a heartbeat.
One optimization note: This class does have some interesting applications with the Scout class, despite that class not being mentioned in the write-up, since Whirling Onslaught allows a Scout making a full-attack to reliably get Skirmish for his second and third hits. This isn't any more powerful than a Cleric 1/Scout 5/Ranger 10 using Travel Devotion (in fact, it is significantly less powerful since you have no spell casting, less mobility, and are stuck using a non-optimal weapon in melee), but it could be fun and possibly unbalancing if, again, your playgroup is at the lower end of optimization.
Acolyte of the Scythe: This class probably actually brings less to the table than the Whirling Reaper, and it is very poorly written. Pretty much all of the abilities contradict common rules of the game. Going down the line:
Shaft Fighting: Arbitrarily making a Scythe a double weapon, but with less penalty for attacking, is not well-written (even though there is some precedent, like the Tempest from C. Adventurer). The real problematic thing is making this side always non-magical unless you buy another (homebrewed) item which then allows it to be max +2; this is nonsensical and really kills the classes power since you won't be able to hit the broadside of a barn at levels 10+. Further, the writing seems to assume the character has Two-weapon Fighting (as written, the class requires two-weapon fighting), yet this is not a prerequisite and is listed no where.
Shaft Defense: No problems here. Saves a feat on Two-weapon Defense.
Weighted Shaft: See above on Shaft Fighting.
Scythe Aptitude: Definitely problematic; the stacking part is fine (and has precedence with tons of other classes and PrCs), but the "must enhance the deadliness of the Scythe" is simply too vague. Does Combat Reflexes count? The Scythe is worthless if I'm dead; does Improved Toughness count? Probably better to just say "chosen from the Fighter Bonus feat list".
Scythe Trick: Do you choose one at each level you gain a Scythe Trick, or do you have access to all three, but only get two "uses" per day, to be used as you wish? I assume the former but its not really clear. Each of the three tricks is strange and not well-written. They make sense but the rules simply don't work that way. This class would be much better off in Pathfinder, were instead of saying "make a trip attempt, but its not really a trip attempt, instead do this and this", it could just say "As a full-round action, initiate a combat maneuver that does not provoke attacks of opportunity against each adjacent enemy. A successful attempt causes the target to fall prone."
I'd want to see some heavier edits if I were to allow this class into a campaign. The two classes together have strange and not quite perfect synergy: obviously Whirling Reaper loves the chance of getting three more attacks/round with his Scythe, even with abysmal attack bonuses, since that is three more chances to land a crit and trigger all of his class features. However, some DMs might quibble over whether a Haft strike is a "critical hit with a scythe", since that end is enchanted separately and has a different crit-range. The shield bonus to AC is also largely wasted, since shield bonuses to AC don't stack.
Thanks, but if you remember I said I wasn't all to familiar with 3.5 so if you could explain that to me again in layponies, please?
Ok, so basically, what Hawk is saying is that Whirling Reaper is fine as it is. It's a bit more powerful than would be a standard fighter of the same level.
With Acolyte of the Scythe, he finds it poorly written for the reasons he gave. It's kind of hard to put them in layman's terms, but here we go. Basically, it's very unclear, and after I looked at the class myself, I found three problems with the class myself.
1. You aren't allowed to magically upgrade the blunt end of the scythe until you get Weapon Aptitude (another class feature), which contradicts precedents set by Wizard of the Coast (eg: Spinning Halberd from Complete Warrior). If I was running, I'd get rid of this requisite.
2. The bonus feats gained at 1st, 2nd, and 4th level by an Acolyte of the Scythe make the class overpowered, if they are even a feature of the class. They aren't featured in the table, but can be found in the text. If I was running, I'd get rid of these bonus feats, or at least reduce the number.
3. As Hawk said, Scythe Trick is really unclear, but one can guess that it was inspired by the Exotic Weapon Master prestige class in Complete Warrior, which means that an Acolyte of the Scythe picks a Scythe Trick at appropriate levels to be able to use at-will.
In conclusion, I'd allow either class in a campaign (if I allowed homebrew) that I ran with the above adjustments. I hope this helped! :smallbiggrin: