The Earthshaker [3.5 Base Class] [PEACH]

[Temotei]

The Fling Rock ability does -way- to much damage. And this class is totally screwed against flying creatures. Not to mention on top of either of these, its damage reduction is....ludicrious. Note how most classes get up to 5, but 20 and not just 20, but -FLAT- 20...that is just to powerful.

Note that the damage reduction only goes to 20 when using one ability, but I'll lower it, as mentioned in the below quote from Realms of Chaos.

As for flying creatures, that's why there's rock fling and that flying ability that isn't going to exist for much longer. I disagree on the damage of rock fling though. Compare it to eldritch blast. The averages are pretty darn close throughout the table. Not only that, but if I lowered the damage, quake would pretty much completely overshadow it once your Strength got into any amount higher than 20 - 22 or so.

Ooh, another class by Temotei. Haven't read one of these for awhile (a big fan of the debaser like everyone else by the way).

Sweet. I loved making each class. Originally, the debaser was meant to be the anti-radiant monk, if you know what I mean. After a tiny bit with the abilities though, I decided for it to be available to Neutral characters, added more debuffs than darkness, and gave it its current name.

Interesting quote but not much information. I'll wait for you to type it all up.

It'll be up at least by the end of this weekend, if not sooner.

Okay, two notes regarding quake. First of all, although the ability to deal damage in a line is fun, this hardly seems like a signature offense as it doesn't seem to increase in power (hopefully some other ability later on helps in this regard).

I think I'll condense the quake upgrades into one quake. My original thoughts were...tired ones. I thought I'd space them out at uneven intervals. Perhaps I'll improve it more linearly.

Secondly, the wording of this ability doesn't quite work the way you might think it does. With this current wording, I could pound the ground to make a line of destruction heading directly upwards. Similarly, I could throw my hammer at the ground while flying to shoot a shockwave directly in front of me... through mid air.
Not sure how to fix the wording but just letting you know.

Thanks much. I overlooked that. I'll just say it works in a line on the ground.

A purely defensive rage, huh? This doesn't exactly make you a tank (can't make enemies focus their attacks on you) but it is a nice thing to have.

Indeed.

Hmmm...
... well, it's safe to say that THIS is the signature offense of the earthshaker, not quake.
Also, it took me until just now to make the mental connection between earthshakers and earth-benders from Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. I'm going to assume that this was intentional.
Anyhow, this stuff looks... wierd. You are throwing stones at creatures that... are magical? Although the assorted powers give this guy even more versatility, I wonder if they are really... needed.
I know where you're coming from, I do believe. Still, I wish the abilities made a bit more sense (things that could actually be done with a stone hitting someone rather than handing out debuffs).
I recommend taking out quake altogether and just moving back this ability a level whenever it would be gained.

Yeah...I didn't think about earthbenders until after I wrote this ability up. I must have subconsciously remembered them while I was typing it.

Maybe I'll get rid of some of the more magical stones, like dispel.

And now for a melee ability, I guess. So we have quakes of power, throwing stones, and rock weaponry. Well, this ability is looking a bit like overkill. Consider taking out the extra damage and simply making this a constant effect rather than an activated one (improved hardness and hit points for your weapon and your weapon is treated as being adamantine for all purposes). It would certainly help to unclutter the ability table.

I'll do that.

Again, for the sake of keeping the table neat, consider creating another column for this class after special to list this guy's burrow speed (much as monks have a column for their speed bonus).
Also, be aware that burrowing can be a disruptive than flying in a campaign. Explore the labyrinth? Why not just dig my way underneath it. Big enemy coming? Dig your way to China (well, you know what I mean :smalltongue).

Indeed, burrowing can break some campaign ideas. I was thinking of making alternate class features for this guy so it would work in more campaigns. Desert earthshaker? Volcanic? Just ideas running through my head right now, but we'll see.

Okay, so there is an ability that affects quake. Unfortunately, it doesn't increase the damage output of Quake and doesn't make it particularly more interesting. Now I'm waiting to see what abilities qualify as "its kin".

Eh. Slightly more interesting. The player has slightly more to describe in combat.

A bit late to get this feat, actually. Consider switching this and burrowing (moving back enhanced burrowing speeds 1 level for each advancement as well).

I'll do that. Note that moving the burrow speeds 1 level back for each advancement will end it at 45 feet instead of 60 feet. That's probably okay though.

Okay, this question is going to sound a bit silly. Instead of granting a bunch of of miscellaneous skill bonuses, why not just grant stonecunning like a dwarf (doubling the bonuses if you already possess them)?
Seems like a good way to get rid of some of this class' clutter.

I had actually used stonecunning as inspiration. I'll just add it in instead of this.

Ooh, Quake gets better. It's almost acceptable for its level. It's just a shame that it still doesn't scale.

Technically. I'll see what I can do for acceptability.

Okay, this ability really seems kind of... extra. This guy gets quite a few class features and this one just seems like a last-second add-on. This ability really isn't needed.
Edit: I now see on the table above that the bonus increases over time, something not mentioned in the ability description. Even so, this guy already seems to have enough offense and defense. I would honestly recommend scrapping the ability.

I forgot to mention it in the ability description. I might just scrap it though, since this was, indeed, a last second add-on. I thought about flavorful things, and I thought horizon walker with environments. Bingo. Mountains and caves. Tweak it a bit and you've got mountaineer.

And quakes get even better. Unfortunately, by the time you get this ability, your quakes aren't doing enough damage any more. Decent against mobs of mooks but little else.

I'll work on that.

Naw.
Seriously, the bonus is too low for something gained as this level. I understand that you want to give this guy a bunch of abilities flavorfully attaching this guy to the terrain of mountains, caves, and the like but this one is just too little too late.
I'd either see if there's room for this ability a bit earlier or scratch it (a class with this many class features probably doesn't need filler abilities, even for flavor's sake).

You're right. I'll move it to an earlier position.

Magical Rocks, part 2: electric boogaloo
Seriously, the SLAs that this guy has don't seem necessary. I don't fully understand why they're here.
Edit: Oh, now I see. You're trying to make a full BAB battlefield controller. This is an interesting attempt but... it seems a bit goofy to me. I can't explain it but it's just... wierd.

I'll think about just scrapping it.

Because every class, everywhere, needs a way to fly.

This ability seems to clash with the rest of this class. You are an earth-based class. You burrow. Why on earth are you now also flying? Despite your established rock-telekinesis and the juicy flavor of a flying battlefield controller, this class does not seem like it should be flying around.

Indeed. Fun was the only thing running through my mind at the time of writing this. Maybe I'll make a psionic earthshaker with this ability, but I'll scrap it for now. Since level 9 is a little low on other abilities, I'll try to move something to this level.

I finally realized what looked wrong about spike stones to me and it applies here as well. I'm not used to seeing SLAs with limited uses per day given to base classes.
While it is common practice with Prestige Classes, the only analogue that I can think of is the ability of the spellthief to use arcane sight a number of times per day (a number that doesn't scale). In short, it's not "bad" but it gives off a more "PrC-ish" vibe (at least to me).

Hm. I suppose that's true. Then again, some classes give veiled spell-like abilities. The paladin gets lay on hands (healing spells), monks get self-healing (healing), monks get tongue of the sun and moon (tongues)...actually, I'm drawing a blank. I'll think on this.

Crush seems... kind of off. Nothing else in this entire class suggests that you'd want to be grappling. While Strength technically helps your Quake ability, most people will be getting their damage by throwing rocks (which requires Dex for the attack roll as it is a ranged attack and does nto add Str to damage).
Other than that, interesting.

Crush was just an idea I got, but you're right; it doesn't fit. I'll see about making a grappling earthshaker. Throwing does let you add Strength to damage though, as far as I understand. I'm thinking this is a result of your tiredness, so I'll just ignore the little oversight, instead looking toward the rest of your extensive and altogether awesome review.

Tremorsense out to 25 feet seems pretty insignificant by level 19. I'd just grant it out to 5 feet/class level at level 10. That way, it ends up extending four times as far (not overpowered) and it streamlines the class a bit.

Will do.

It has been a long time coming but at long last Quake is useful. If you took Quake Mastery last level, this is far more useful than throwing rocks when facing multiple foes.
Also, I should have asked this earlier but is there any specific reason why all of the quake abilties aren't gathered under a single heading?

There is no reason other than for the different names and for spreading them out a bit. I'll make the progression more linear and give it one name.

OK, this ability is just plain funky. This is one of the few abilities along with rock armor and rock weapon that suggest that this class is intended to wade into combat rather than controlling the battlefield.
As far as I can tell, this is simply not the case. This guy launches rocks at big guys and quakes swarms. What on earth would this guy actually attack?

Also, this ability does something else that is kind of wierd. Up until level 12, you've been relying on stone armor, an ability that has gained daily uses over the levels. Now, you suddenly get a separate and likely larger pool of better defensive stances. I understand that stone armor has its uses (such as moving) but it still ends up looking wierd.
I'd personally rework this ability as an enhancement to stone armor, allowing you to double the AC bonus/DR and gain Spell Resistance by restricting your movement when you activate the ability.

I'll do that.

As stated before, DR 20/- is a bit much. I know that it's not 9th level spells but it's still alot to be granted as a normal class feature in pre-epic levels.

Damage reduction 15/- or even down to 10/- would probably be better. I'll think on this.

And if you've been taking Quake Mastery diligently at each opportunity, quaking people now officially deals more damage than throwing a rock at them. I don't think that the death attack is quite necessary but it is a nice touch.

It's one more thing for the class to do.

Wow. Very Nice (and very busy) capstone. Become an outsider, gain DR, better rock flinging, better burrowing, and master earth. Considering that you also get your best version of quake (including a 1/day massive death effect) at this level (and burrow speed... and rock weapon... and rock armor... and spike stones... and rock fling damage), you may want to cut one or two parts of that out.

Inspired by arguskos' extinguisher class. I just modified it to be more earthy, took away the summoning of elder elementals for a whole day, and added in some other abilities to compensate. I'll see what I can do to get rid of some of the clutter on the table though.

Okay, I am veeerry sleepy now. I'm sorry if I said something stupid or wrong earlier. I honestly can't remember.

It's okay. I was sleepy when I did a lot of this class, too.

I greatly appreciate all your feedback.

The rest of the changes will be done on a laptop because of sickness. They'll be finished in a bit.

I've got a lack of abilities on some levels now though. One level is nearly dead (invisible quake upgrade), and the levels with only rock fling aren't exactly interesting.