The Gladiator (3.5 E6 base class, PEACH)

[Gnorman]

The Gladiator

HD: d10
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Listen, Profession, Spot, Swim, Tumble
Skill Points: 4 + Int per level (4x at 1st)

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+1|+2|+0|+0|Archetype, Combat Versatility

2nd|+2|+3|+0|+0|Lesser Archetype Power

3rd|+3|+3|+1|+1|Weapon of Choice, Combat Versatility Bonus Feat

4th|+4|+4|+1|+1|Moderate Archetype Power

5th|+5|+4|+1|+1|Fancy Footwork, Combat Versatility Bonus Feat

6th|+6/+1|+5|+2|+2|Greater Archetype Power, Riddle of Steel[/table]

Proficiencies: The gladiator is proficient with light armor, medium armor, and shields. He is proficient with simple weapons, martial weapons, and three exotic weapons of his choice.

Archetype: At 1st level, the gladiator chooses an archetype from the list below. He gains the advantages and abilities of the archetype at the appropriate levels, as indicated in the list. Once made, this choice is final.

Combat Versatility: The gladiator qualifies for feats as if he was a fighter of his own level. He also gains bonus fighter feats at 1st, 3rd, and 5th level. Once every twenty-four hours, the gladiator may swap any of these bonus feats for another feat he qualifies for, even all three - he must still fill the prerequisites of any feat he selects.

Lesser Archetype Power: At 2nd level, the gladiator gains the appropriate power for his archetype.

Weapon of Choice: At 3rd level, the gladiator chooses a single weapon. He gains a bonus on attack and damage rolls with that weapon equal to half his level. That weapon may not be sundered and the gladiator may not be disarmed of it while he is wielding it. Once per encounter, he may reroll a failed attack when using this weapon. Once every twenty-four hours, the gladiator may select a different weapon.

Moderate Archetype Power: At 4th level, the gladiator gains the appropriate power for his archetype.

Fancy Footwork: At 5th level, the gladiator may take an extra 5 foot step each round as an swift action. In addition, when taking the 5 foot step he may take normally, he may move 10 feet instead.

Greater Archetype Power: At 6th level, the gladiator gains the appropriate power for his archetype.

Riddle of Steel: Three times per day after a full attack, the gladiator may immediately make a separate, second full attack as a swift action. He may target another opponent within reach and may take an additional five-foot step during the second full attack action. He may only do this once per encounter.

Archetypes:

Brute

Lesser Archetype Power: A brute may Rage as a barbarian of his level, three times per day, and may add his Strength modifier to all Intimidate attempts. In addition, he gains a 10 foot bonus to his base land speed, and is no longer encumbered or slowed by medium armor.
Moderate Archetype Power: A brute may charge over difficult terrain and may make one direction change of up to 90 degrees during a single charge.
Greater Archetype Power: A brute gains Pounce and no longer suffers a penalty to armor class when charging.

Kensei

Lesser Archetype Power: A kensei gains the ability to initiate maneuvers as if he were a warblade of his own level. His maneuver progression (both known and readied) are the same as a warblade of his level. The disciplines available to him are Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, Stone Dragon, and two of the following: Army of One, Chthonic Serpent, Dancing Leaf, Scarlet Bravura, Storm Soul, Tiger Claw, or White Raven. His weapon of choice is always considered an associated weapon for all his disciplines.
Moderate Archetype Power: A kensei becomes immune to fear and demoralization.
Greater Archetype Power: Whenever a kensei rolls a natural twenty on a melee attack with his weapon of choice, if he subsequently confirms the critical hit, the damage is maximized.

Master at Arms

Lesser Archetype Power: A master at arms may treat his weapons as any material for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. He may not, however, treat his weapons as adamantine for the purpose of overcoming the hardness of objects.
Moderate Archetype Power: A master at arms may change his Weapon of Choice as a swift action, and gains a +4 bonus to all combat maneuvers while using it. He may also ignore up to 20% of any concealment his opponent possesses while wielding a chosen weapon.
Greater Archetype Power: The threat range of the master at arm's weapon of choice is doubled, and the critical multiplier increased by one - this ability cannot, however, increase the critical multiplier of a weapon beyond x4.

Pit Fighter

Lesser Archetype Power: Anytime a pit fighter is able to make an attack of opportunity, he may also immediately take a five-foot step, even if he has already used one for the round. Additionally, opponents provoke attacks of opportunity from a pit fighter even during a five-foot step.
Moderate Archetype Power: Opponents may not cast defensively if threatened by a pit fighter, and lose their spell if the pit fighter's attack of opportunity causes damage - any Concentration check made to focus on the spell automatically fails.
Greater Archetype Power: A pit fighter may make a full attack action as an attack of opportunity.

Vindicator

Lesser Archetype Power: A vindicator gains the favored enemy ability of a ranger of his level, gaining a second at level 5 and increasing the bonuses to +4/+2.
Moderate Archetype Power: A vindicator gains a bonus on attack and damage rolls against a particular opponent equal to the number of times that encounter he has been attacked by that opponent (to a maximum of +3).
Greater Archetype Power: A vindicator's weapon of choice is considered to be a bane weapon against his favored enemies. In addition, he may replace his favored enemies with different choices once every 24 hours.

[Ziegander]

This is shaping up to be awesome already!

[Morty]

I feel that more exotic weapons might be needed for this class, what with three free exotic proficiences... exotic weapons in SRD are lacklustre.

[Knaight]

I'd recommend rewriting stuff like "Rage as barbarian" to the actual abilities in question. Its cleaner.

[Spiryt]

A pit fighter may make a trip attempt, a disarm attempt, or a sunder attempt as part of an attack of opportunity.

I was pretty sure that you can already do it, by default in 3.5?

Am I missing something.

[Gnorman]

I'd recommend rewriting stuff like "Rage as barbarian" to the actual abilities in question. Its cleaner.

Rage (Ex)

A barbarian can fly into a rage a certain number of times per day. In a rage, a barbarian temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a -2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase in Constitution increases the barbarian’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the rage when his Constitution score drops back to normal. (These extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are.) While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. He can use any feat he has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A barbarian may prematurely end his rage. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (-2 penalty to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for the duration of the current encounter (unless he is a 17th-level barbarian, at which point this limitation no longer applies).

A barbarian can fly into a rage only once per encounter. At 1st level he can use his rage ability once per day. At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, he can use it one additional time per day (to a maximum of six times per day at 20th level). Entering a rage takes no time itself, but a barbarian can do it only during his action, not in response to someone else’s action.

I consider the above a little too cumbersome to include, but I see where you're going with it - it's for completion's sake, yes? I'll just link to the SRD page for now, and perhaps I'll add the change later.

[Gnorman]

I was pretty sure that you can already do it, by default in 3.5?

Am I missing something.

I was under the impression that you could not do so as part of an attack of opportunity. If I am in error, I suppose I'll just have to come up with something else.

EDIT: I am in error, will rewrite.

"Moderate Archetype Power: Opponents may not cast defensively if threatened by a pit fighter, and lose their spell if the pit fighter's attack of opportunity causes damage, no matter if they make their Concentration check or not."

Short version: pit fighters kick spellcasters in the junk, cause spells to fizzle.

[Spiryt]

Well, Pit Fighter seemed a bit lackluster to me, but:

A pit fighter may make a full attack action as an attack of opportunity.

This way with 18 Dex and Combat Reflexes, pretty much nothing prevents PC from making 4 full attack actions per round.

Not sure how balanced it is, sounds a bit powerful, but again, rarely you will see 4 AoO provoked in a round.

Other than that:

I think that every 24-hours may be a bit "too versatile" - allowing player to abuse changing his builds a lot, making pretty much different fighter every time they go after some other opponents...

A brute may apply twice his Strength modifier to damage on all single-handed melee weapons, as if he was wielding them with two hands.

By wielding with two hands, one obviously applies 1.5 Str though.

This is something for shield bearers, anyway, I presume?

[Gnorman]

Well, Pit Fighter seemed a bit lackluster to me, but:



This way with 18 Dex and Combat Reflexes, pretty much nothing prevents PC from making 4 full attack actions per round.

Not sure how balanced it is, sounds a bit powerful, but again, rarely you will see 4 AoO provoked in a round.

One would hope that an intelligent opponent would stop moving through his threatened area, but yeah, it could potentially rack up the attacks. That's the point of the pit fighter, though - to exploit exposed weaknesses.

Other than that:

I think that every 24-hours may be a bit "too versatile" - allowing player to abuse changing his builds a lot, making pretty much different fighter every time they go after some other opponents...

They can only change one feat every day, not all three bonus feats at once, so I don't think it's egregiously abusive. And even so, as long as it doesn't push the gladiator past tier 3 (and I don't think it does), I'm happy with it - fighters need a boost!

By wielding with two hands, one obviously applies 1.5 Str though.

This is something for shield bearers, anyway, I presume?

It was intended for shield-bearers and two-weapon fighters, yeah, but now that I think about it, it really just encourages the brute to not invest in two-handed weapons, which is what I wanted him to do... I'll have to reevaluate that one.

[nonsi]

"Moderate Archetype Power: A master at arms may select three weapons of choice, one from each type of damage, and gains the appropriate bonuses to each one."

appropriate bonuses which are . . . ??

[Gnorman]

"Moderate Archetype Power: A master at arms may select three weapons of choice, one from each type of damage, and gains the appropriate bonuses to each one."

appropriate bonuses which are . . . ??

... listed fairly clearly in the main class features.

Weapon of Choice: At 3rd level, the gladiator chooses a single weapon. He gains a bonus on attack rolls with that weapon equal to half his level, and a bonus on damage rolls equal to his level minus two. Once every twenty-four hours, the gladiator may select a different weapon.

[Spiryt]

Razor's Edge: At 5th level, the gladiator may cause his opponents to suffer from debilitating effects on a critical hit. A critical with a bludgeoning weapon causes the opponent to be confused for three rounds; a piercing weapon causes the opponent to be sickened for three rounds; and a slashing weapon causes the opponent to bleed, inflicting five damage per round for three rounds.

Any ability ruled like that favors certain weapons though. With class that apparently should be skilled in use of pretty much vast array of stuff it in particular doesn't look too good.

Making effect depend on weapon critical modifier like f.e.: "Opponent to be sickened for one round per critical modifier of a weapon" could be nice way to deal with it.

Still picks and rapiers can become heavily favored over swords and axes, but that's the problem with 3.5 in general.

[Ziegander]

This one might be my absolute favorite. Very well done. My only complaints are that Weapon of Choice seems a bit boring, and so does the Master-at-Arms archetype on the whole. Otherwise, top notch stuff here. I also think, personally, that Combat Versatility should let him change out all three of those feats every 24 hours. It's just three feats after all.

[Morty]

I too think that the Moderate Archetype Power for Master at Arms could be better. The increased variety of weapons isn't that much, especially since any Gladiator can swap his Weapon of Choice every 24 hours.
Other than that yeah, it's great. Good name for the 6th level ability, too.

[Gnorman]

I too think that the Moderate Archetype Power for Master at Arms could be better. The increased variety of weapons isn't that much, especially since any Gladiator can swap his Weapon of Choice every 24 hours.
Other than that yeah, it's great. Good name for the 6th level ability, too.

Changed it to let him reassign his weapon of choice basically at will. That should further solidify him as a weapons expert. I also tricked out his Greater ability a bit - the limit on the critical multiplier should help rein in some of the heavy pick / scythe dependency. I hope.

[gkathellar]

The Moderate feature is still underwhelming. I think you need to stick something more in there besides switching the weapon of choice, and possibly cut the time down even further (standard action, maybe?).

[Morty]

The Moderate feature is still underwhelming. I think you need to stick something more in there besides switching the weapon of choice, and possibly cut the time down even further (standard action, maybe?).

I agree. Switching his weapon of choice is nice, but I feel it needs something more.

[Ziegander]

Weapon of Choice is just lame regardless, and a moderate archetype power that relies on switching your weapon of choice or applying it to more weapons is still lame.

[Gnorman]

Well, what would you prefer to see it do? I realize that straight numerical bonuses, even if they do scale, are boring, and am open to suggestions on that count. I had intended it to be a scaling Weapon Focus/Specialization replacement.

[Morty]

Hm. Off the top of my head, perhaps re-rolling missed attacks? I'm thinking out loud here, really; I don't know how balanced it'd be.

[Eldest]

For Master-at-Arms, the middle archetype ability...
Perhaps let him have one extra feat, out of Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, Improved Bull Rush (maybe not this one), Improved Overrun (also maybe not this one) and Improved Sunder, and instead of switching out his bonus feats on a given day he can switch one of those feats to any other feat listed?

[Gnorman]

For Master-at-Arms, the middle archetype ability...
Perhaps let him have one extra feat, out of Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, Improved Bull Rush (maybe not this one), Improved Overrun (also maybe not this one) and Improved Sunder, and instead of switching out his bonus feats on a given day he can switch one of those feats to any other feat listed?

As a general rule, I try not to have archetype abilities give bonus feats, as the principles of E6 make these a relatively common occurrence.

[Rainbow Servant]

How about the Master-at-Arms can treat weapons as being up or down one size category (eg making one-handed weapons finessable (like a light weapon) and/or two-handable for power attack)?

Love your classes so far, just quietly.

[Gnorman]

I gave Weapon of Choice some activated abilities to make it a bit more interesting, including the ability to take ten and reroll failed attacks (but only a certain number of times per encounter).

Razor's Edge changed to Fancy Footwork, and the Master at Arms' moderate ability has been upgraded with the ability to ignore concealment and give a bonus to combat maneuvers.

[Othniel Edden]

which one of these archetypes would you use for a net and trident style?

[Gnorman]

which one of these archetypes would you use for a net and trident style?

Master at Arms, personally.