[3.5 core class] Talky Man Buff Monkey

Back in the mists of ages past, I posted a homebrew class which attracted little comment from the Playground at the time.
Now one of my players wants to play something which exactly fits what I made, and I'd like to see what you smart folk think.

Here's the original text:

A blend of Marshall and Bard from D&D, with a heavy dose of Charismatic Hero and Field Officer from d20 modern thrown in - my idea is for the Charismatic Officer to take the place of the bard as the "talky man" and "buff the party" character.

It's very much a work in progress, so all comments are welcome. I've no pretensions to completeness for this class as it stands. Some features will be stripped or modified before I'm done, for sure.


Charismatic Officer - a Bard / Marshal combination
Class Features
Alignment: any
Hit-Die: d8
Weapon and armour proficiencies: The Charismatic Officer is proficient with Light and Medium Armour, and with all Simple and Martial Weapons.
Skill Points at 1st level: (4 + INT bonus) x 4
Skill points at each additional level: 4 + INT bonus
Class skills:

• Str: Swim.
• Dex: Ride.
• Int: Knowledge (all).
• Wis: Listen, Profession (siege engineer), Sense Motive, Spot.
• Cha: Bluff, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Perform.
• Speak Language

{table]Level|Base Attack|Fort save|Ref save|Will save|Features|Minor Auras Known|Major Auras Known
1|+0|+0|+0|+2|Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Minor Aura, Worldly Knowledge|1|–
2|+1|+0|+0|+3|Major Aura +1, Bonus Feat|1| 1
3|+2|+1|+1|+3|Conceal Motive, Distraction|2| 1
4|+3|+1|+1|+4|Grant Move Action, 1/day |2| 1
5|+3|+1|+1|+4|Bonus Feat|3|2
6|+4|+2|+2|+5|React First|3| 2
7|+5|+2|+2|+5|Major Aura +2|4|2
8|+6/+1|+2|+2|+6|Grant Move Action, 2/day| 4|2
9|+6/+1|+3|+3|+6|Weaken Resolve|5| 3
10|+7/+2|+3|+3|+7|Bonus Feat|5| 3
11|+8/+3|+3|+3|+7|Snap Out of It|5| 3
12|+9/+4|+4|+4|+8|Grant Move Action, 3/day|6|3
13|+9/+4|+4|+4|+8|Major Aura +3|6| 3
14|+10/+5|+4|+4|+9|Action Trust +1d6|6| 4
15|+11/+6/+1|+5|+5|+9|Bonus Feat| 7| 4
16|+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+10|Grant Move Action, 4/day|7| 4
17|+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+10|—|7| 4
18|+13/+8/+3|+6|+6|+11|Action Trust +2d6|7| 4
19|+14/+9/+4|+6|+6|+11|Major Aura +4|8 |4
20|+15/+10/+5|+6|+6|+12|Grant Move Action, 5/day|8 |5[/table]


Officer Class Features:
Aura- The officer can maintain one Minor Aura and one Major Aura continuously, as long as he/she is able to communicate with the surrounding allies.
An aura is activated as a Swift Action and Dismissed as a Free Action. The Aura ends if the officer is Dazed, Unconscious, Stunned, Paralyzed, etc.
The Aura affects all allies within a 60’ radius (including the officer) who can hear the officer, share a language, & have at least a 3 Intelligence.

Minor Aura – grant a bonus equal to the officer’s Charisma modifier:
Accurate Strike – bonus on confirming a Critical.
Art of War – bonus Disarm, Trip, Bull Rush, & Sunder attempts.
Demand Fortitude – bonus on Fortitude saves.
Determined Caster – bonus on rolls to overcome Spell Resistance.
Force of Will – bonus on Will saves.
Master of Opportunity – bonus to AC vs. Attacks of Opportunity.
Master of Tactics – bonus on damage rolls when flanking.
Motivate Charisma – bonus on Charisma checks & Charisma-based Skill checks.
Motivate Constitution – bonus on Constitution checks & Constitution-based Skill checks.
Motivate Dexterity – bonus on Dexterity checks & Dexterity-based Skill checks.
Motivate Intelligence – bonus on Intelligence checks & Intelligence-based Skill checks.
Motivate Strength – bonus on Strength checks & Strength-based Skill checks.
Motivate Wisdom – bonus on Wisdom checks & Wisdom-based Skill checks.
Over the Top – bonus on damage rolls when charging.
Watchful Eye – bonus on Reflex saves

Major Aura +N – grant a bonus equal to ‘N’ (determined by level):
Hardy Soldiers – allies gain Damage Reduction ‘N’ / —
Motivated Ardour – +N bonus on damage.
Motivate Attack – +N bonus on melee attacks.
Motivate Care – +N bonus to AC.
Motivate Urgency – Land speed increases by + (2*N)’.
Resilient Troops – +N bonus on all saving throws.
Steady Hand – +N bonus on ranged attacks.

Bonus Feat - an Officer can choose a bonus feat from the following list: Alertness, Athletic, Combat Expertise, Deceitful, Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative, Investigator, Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Negotiator, Persuasive, Ride-by Attack, Self-sufficient, Spirited Charge.
The Charismatic Officer must meet the prerequisites of the Feat.

Conceal Motive - The Charismatic Officer is a skilled negotiator.
He gains a bonus equal to their class level to oppose Sense Motive checks.

Distraction - The Charismatic Officer may attempt a Feint against 1 character per 2 class levels at up to 30ft range.

Grant Move Action, N/day – The Charismatic Officer can push his allies to achieve more.
As a Standard Action, the officer grants all allies within 30 ft (but not himself/herself) an extra Move Action to be taken immediately. This does not change the allies’ location in the initiative order. A person can only benefit from this class ability once per round (in the case of multiple officers).

React First - Even in the midst of negotiations, the Charismatic Officer is poised ready to act.
If speaking with enemies prior to start of combat, gain a free readied action prior to start of combat if either side (apart from Officer) decides to initiate combat.

Weaken Resolve - The Charismatic Officer can deter enemies with his commanding presence.
Weakening a foe’s resolve requires an attack action and a successful Intimidate check (DC = target’s level check). If the check succeeds, the target is shaken for a number of rounds equal to 1d6 + one-half the Officer’s class level + the Officer’s Charisma modifier. The target must be within sight and hearing distance of the Officer and must be able to understand him. A target that resists the Officer’s attempt to weaken its resolve is immune to the Officer’s use of this ability for 24 hours.

Snap Out of It - The Officer's persuasive skill and commanding presence is enough to break thorugh enchanments and debilitating conditions.
He create an effect equivalent to the break enchantment spell (caster level equals the character’s Officer level), or to negate any one of the following harmful conditions affecting a single ally: cowering, dazed, fatigued, nauseated, panicked, shaken, or stunned. Using this ability requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration and speech, and it functions on a single target within 30 feet. An officer can’t use Snap Out of It on himself.

Action Trust - The Officer's ability to push his allies to excel reaches extraordinary heights.
He gains 4 + 1/2 class level Action Points, each level hereafter (if your game uses Action Points already, the Officer gets 7 + 1/2 level at each level). As a free action, a Charismatic Officer may spend one of his Action Points to modify an ally's attack roll, skill check, ability check, level check, or saving throw result by +1d6 (applying a bonus of +1 to +6). At 18th level, this bonus increases to +2d6.
The ally to be affected must be within sight and hearing distance of the Officer to gain the benefits of the Charismatic Officer’s spent Action Point. An Officer may use this ability once per round, but not on himself. The use of an Action Point must be declared before the check has been declared successful or not.

Before this disappears into the Depths of the Third Page, any comments?

Is this over powered? Under powered? Plain dumb?

Thanks!

I like the auras and buffs, be grateful I revived your thread before it dies.

Thanks, Josha.

I guess this class just isn't especially interesting - all I've done is blend together a bunch of existing things from classes that people are always saying are underpowered.

The Bard and the Marshal and d20 Modern characters in general are weak!
Together they are strong! (So much so that I felt I had to reduce the BAB.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Altair_the_Vexed

The Bard and the Marshal and d20 Modern characters in general are weak!

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The bard isn't weak. They're actually pretty good. Perhaps alone they don't quite fill what another character could, but they're awesome in parties.

Spells push them up to tier 3...maybe tier 4. High tier 4.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Temotei221

The bard isn't weak. They're actually pretty good. Perhaps alone they don't quite fill what another character could, but they're awesome in parties.

Spells push them up to tier 3...maybe tier 4. High tier 4.

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Well, no, the Bard isn't utterly weak... they're just a bit too middle of the road (is it a magic rogue, or a buffer, or a caster, or a diplomancer...?)

Mostly, though, I just don't really like the bard. I suppose that's mostly baggage from their musical power source (which I'm well aware you can handwave away - I've played an orator bard... but found it necessary to take level of rogue to make it work).
Anyway, this is my attempt to do what a bard does in terms of party support, but without the baggage that I dislike.

I think the auras need more FLAVOR, not just bonuses to the standard combat rolls.

I probably missed this on my original read through, but do the auras have to be prepared ahead of time (like spells) or can they just be spontaneously manifested? If it's the former, then maybe the class is underpowered, but if it's the latter then it's just fine.

You could say that the Auras work like the bard spell lists - you know a small number, but you can manifest them indefinitely.

The Auras are limited by the number known - for example, at 1st level you only know 1 minor aura, at 10th level you know 5 minor auras and 3 major auras, and so on.

You can manifest any one Minor Aura and any one Major Aura that you know at a time.

So, let's say I am a Charismatic Officer and I lay Art of War on my ally. Assuming that I don't get nailed with one of those negative effects you mentioned, could I keep this up from sun-up till sun-down?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steward

So, let's say I am a Charismatic Officer and I lay Art of War on my ally. Assuming that I don't get nailed with one of those negative effects you mentioned, could I keep this up from sun-up till sun-down?

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Yeah, sure - as long as you're within 60 feet of your allies, they all get it, all day.