The Weightless Foot (3.5, PrC)

[Endalia]

Weightless Foot

The slow and heavy are the companions of death. The quick and light the companions of life. Therefore the path of true enlightenment lies above the ground, weightlessness is a state of bliss
-Wu Shenyang, founder of the Weightless Foot clan

Members of the Weightless Foot are ninjas and monks who excel at acrobatics and jumps. Every step can lead to a leap, and every leap can lead to flight. They are weightless.
They also know when and where to apply force, and are thus strong martial artists with strong roots in the schools of the Sublime Way. The fast, light moves of the Desert Wind the meditative nature of the Diamond Mind, the principle of letting the enemy defeat itself of the Setting Sun and the stealthy and deceptive way of the Shadow Hand all fit the Weightless Feet well, and they are all vigorous students.

BECOMING A Weightless Foot
Most Weightless Feet are swordsages, due to the skill requirements and the martial knowledge that is needed. Some are multi-class swordsage/monks or swordsage/ninjas, but most members have at least one level in swordsage.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a Weightless Foot, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Balance: 8 ranks, Climb: 4 ranks, Concentration: 4 ranks, Jump: 8 ranks, Martial Lore 2 ranks, Tumble: 6 ranks
Feats: Dodge, Mobility
Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least four maneuvers, including at least one from either Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun or Shadow Hand.
Martial Stances: Must know at least one stance


Hit Dice: d8

Class Skills
Weightless Foot’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Martial Lore (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex)
Skills Points at Each Level : 6 + int


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

1st|

+1

|

+0

|

+2

|

+2

|Leap of the Heavens, Slow Fall 20 ft

2nd|

+2

|

+0

|

+3

|

+3

|Light Step +10

3rd|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|

+3

|Acrobatics +10, Slow Fall 30 ft

4th|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|

+4

|Dry Feet, Evasion

5th|

+5

|

+1

|

+4

|

+4

|Slow Fall 50 ft, Light Step +20

6th|

+6

|

+2

|

+5

|

+5

|Uncanny Step, Acrobatics +20

7th|

+7

|

+2

|

+5

|

+5

|Purity of Mind

8th|

+8

|

+2

|

+6

|

+6

|Light as a Feather

9th|

+9

|

+3

|

+6

|

+6

|Light as Air

10th|

+10

|

+3

|

+7

|

+7

|Weightlessness[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A Weightless Foot gains simple and martial weapon proficiencies, but no armour proficiencies.
Maneuvers: A Weightless Foot gains maneuvers as indicated on the table below. His available disciplines are Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun and Shadow Hand.
Leap of the Heavens: A Weightless Foot gains Leap of the Heavens as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Slow Fall (Ex): A Weightless Foot of 1st level treats any fall as if it was 20 ft shorter, as long as he is within arms length from a wall. This increases to 30 ft at 3rd level, and 50 ft at 5th level.
Light Step (Su): A Weightless Foot begins to know when to apply weight to himself, and when not to. At 2nd level he gains a +10 competence bonus to Move Silently checks, and can take 10 on Move Silently, even when normally not allowed to.. This bonus increases to +20 at 5th level.
Acrobatics (Su): A Weightless Foot of 3rd level gains a +10 competence bonus to Balance, Climb, Jump and Tumble checks, and can take 10 on any Balance, Climb, Jump and Tumble checks, even when normally not allowed to. This bonus increases to +20 at 6th level.
Dry Feet (Su): Any time a Weightless Foot of 4th level or higher is in a stance, he may choose to, as a swift action, forgo the normal bonus granted by the stance, and instead gain the benefit of water walk. This ability is usable 10 min/Weightless Foot Level. The minutes need not be consecutive. He can resume the normal benefit of his stance as a swift action.
Evasion (Ex): A Weightless Foot gains the rogue ability with the same name at 4th level.
Uncanny Step (Su): A Weightless Foot of 6th Level or higher may take whole or parts of his movement on a wall or other vertical surface, as long as he begins and ends on a horizontal surface. If he does not, he falls down. Treat the vertical surface as normal floor for the determination of movement. Passing the boundary between horizontal and vertical costs 5 ft of movement. The Weightless Foot may take other move actions in conjunction with uncanny step, such as the Spring Attack feat or the Tumble skill.
Purity of Mind (Ex): At 7th level the Weightless Foot has learned to gather his scattered mind, and truly focus on becoming weightless. As a result the Weightless foot gains a +5 competence bonus on Concentration checks, and all Intelligence based skill checks.
Light as a Feather (Su): Any time a Weightless Foot of 8th level or higher is in a stance, he may choose to, as an immediate action, forgo the normal benefit granted by the stance, and instead gain the benefit of feather fall. This ability is usable 1 min/Weightless Foot level. The minutes need not be consecutive. He can resume the normal benefit of his stance as a swift action.
Light as Air (Su): Any time a Weightless Foot of 9th level or higher is in a stance, he may choose to, as a swift action, forgo the normal benefit granted by the stance, and instead gain the benefit of air walk. This ability is usable 10 min/Weightless Foot level. The minutes need not be consecutive. He can resume the normal benefit of his stance as a swift action.
Weightless (Su): Any time a Weightless Foot of 10th level is in a stance, he may choose to, as a swift action, forgo the normal benefit granted by the stance, and instead gain the benefit of fly. This ability is usable 10 min/Weightless Foot level. The minutes need not be consecutive. He can resume the normal benefit of his stance as a swift action.

{table=head]Level|Man. Known|Man. Readied|Stances Known

1st|

1

|

0

|

0

2nd|

0

|

0

|

0

3rd|

1

|

1

|

0

4th|

0

|

0

|

0

5th|

1

|

0

|

1

6th|

0

|

1

|

0

7th|

1

|

0

|

0

8th|

0

|

0

|

0

9th|

1

|

1

|

0

10th|

0

|

0

|

0

[/table]


So this is essentially just an update of a 3rd party 3.0 PrC I found somewhere (can't remember where, but I have it on my computer). This is also my first attempt at homebrewing a PrC.

So, comments? Suggestions?

[jagadaishio]

Check your maneuvers chart.

Otherwise, I like it's. I could be really powerful in a game that is more dependent on mobility and less on combat, and of a balanced, if not sub-par power level in games which focus more on by-the books combat. I give it a thumbs up.

Oh, and you should really list ex, su, or sp for each of the listed abilities. Just saying.

[Endalia]

Check your maneuvers chart.

Otherwise, I like it's. I could be really powerful in a game that is more dependent on mobility and less on combat, and of a balanced, if not sub-par power level in games which focus more on by-the books combat. I give it a thumbs up.

Oh, and you should really list ex, su, or sp for each of the listed abilities. Just saying.

Comments noted and taken care of.

Thanks for pointing out the maneuver chart error.

[Worira]

Having weightless feet wouldn't really make you any more stealthy or acrobatic. That would be Weightless Tread, or Weightless step.

The class is fine, though. I might suggest changing the bonus type from competence to something a bit less common. Alternately, since competence makes the most sense here, you could add a "which stacks with other competence bonuses, rather than overlapping as normal" clause.

[jagadaishio]

Having weightless feet wouldn't really make you any more stealthy or acrobatic. That would be Weightless Tread, or Weightless step.

The class is fine, though. I might suggest changing the bonus type from competence to something a bit less common. Alternately, since competence makes the most sense here, you could add a "which stacks with other competence bonuses, rather than overlapping as normal" clause.

I think that 'Weightless Foot' is more supposed to be a colourful metaphor than an actual assertion of pedal mass.

[Worira]

Metonym, actually.

[jagadaishio]

Metonym, actually.

Yes, actually.

[Eldrys]

I think there should be an ability to somehow lessen the effects of caltrops.