The Vagrant [Base Class]

[Eighth_Seraph]

Introduction

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Looks Like raiding villages in the plains was a decent idea after all, though I'd never let that hothead Urthar hear me say that aloud. This village is weak. Weak, but profitable that is. Gerbad's troops might've headed out when they heard those rumors about some crazy warrior out here, killing opponents with his bare hands, but we're made of stronger stuff. Even if this soldier exists, there's nothing he can do against our forces. No single human could hope to survive this assault, alone with no gates or soldiers; this is Orc territory.
.....The soldier's thoughts were suddenly interrupted at the sound of his own people roaring battle cries and screaming in pain. Dying. He hurried from the hut he was looting, fingering the blade of his greataxe towards the screams. Suddenly the yelling ceased. There was already a great crowd gathered where the yells had originated, and all were as tense as bow strings, gripping their weapons tightly, and grim as death itself. Hoping to see what the crowd was surrounding, the young orc leaped on the stump of an old and felled tree and looked to the center of the gathered orcs. There was the tanned figure of a young man, wearing nothing but a loose pair of cloth trousers with a pouch hanging from a string around his belt. Human-filth, with a clean-shaven head and black tattoos running down both arms. The man appeared extraordinarily strong, and yet completely relaxed, his lean, sinewy arms hanging limply to his sides, and the soldier noticed that his hands and feet dripped blood, and that helms and swords lay cloven at his feet. He had an empty circle ten feet wide around him, but outside of that scores of orc raiders sorrounded him. Trapped like a rat.
..... With no warning the human sprang forward, roaring like some great feral leopard, impossibly fast, unto his closest opponent, crushing the orc's scarred face into a pulp with a single thrust from his bloody knuckles before even this season soldier could widen his eyes. The man immediately jumped backwards into a full crowd which surrounded him immediately, and even as they raised their weapons to kill him, he threw a dizzying whirlwind of kicks: his heel to the throat of four orcs in one deft movement. As their corpses fell, the man procured something that glistened in the midday sun from a pouch on a string around his waist, and the last thing the orc saw was this insane man punching straight through Urthar's breastplate as a shuriken embedded itself into his forehead.

Playing a Vagrant

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A Vagrant is a person who dedicates herself body and soul to self-betterment through way of practice in a martial art as a style of self defense or combat; much like monks in their monasteries practicing the same techniques endlessly until she masters them and learn to apply them to deadly effect. The vagrant, however, practices rather differently, not focusing her mind inward and training the body to follow its commands, but rather expanding the mind outwards and through all bounds. The vagrant has no monastery, and more often than not no home, wandering where the wind takes them and ever refining the use of their body as a tool, or as a weapon.
At times shunned as insane practitioners of inorderly and undisciplined martial arts, vagrants are seldom to be found training together, each developing his or her own particular style of martial art upon fundamental principles of combat and through the spiritual energy that courses through them.

Adventures: A vagrant finds an adventure to be an opportunity to improve her own style, as well as physical, emotional and spiritual power. Good vagrants may adventure out of a need to show that because they have not practiced in a monastery does not mean they are inherently dangerous or unpredictable. Evil vagrants may adventure to prove superiority by way of their respective art. In any case, vagrants will generally seek to become stronger in the application her inner Ki.

Characteristics: A key element for the vagrant is her ability to fight unarmed and unarmored. Thanks to her training in the martial arts, a vagrant can strike with hands and feet as hard as if she were armed and attack faster than a warrior brandishing a sword.
A vagrant depends upon an inner spiritual force, known as ki to fuel her extraordinary and supernatural powers. However, due to a vagrant's emphasis on chaos and unpredictability, this manifests not as the monk's orderly, focused power, known as You ki, but as a wilder, less controllable force known as Yin ki. The vagrant trains, and perhaps even adventures, in order to become strong and thus greater in the use of her Yin ki.
As a vagrant gains experience and power, she learns and develops new techniques by applying her Yin Ki to her martial arts, giving her greater power to exert her ki in impressive and possibly even dangerous ways.

Alignment: The only way in which a vagrant can hope to understand the energies of her Yin Ki is to open herself to endless possibilities, not be bogged down by barriers of organization or rules which only serve to hold her back. Only those who are Chaotic can take the path to become a vagrant and unlock these abilities.

Background: Vagrants are generally those who have had experience in the martial arts in some way, yet found that the strict code of training, following in another's footsteps and emulating his action is far too stuffy to serve her effectively. Budding martial artists who can not march the straight life of a monk often turn to become vagrants, while strong-willed children who wish to unlock their potential as martial artists may begin to train themselves off of basics they may have learned in the past.
Occasionally, an older, more experienced vagrant may find a child with great potential and teach him in the use of unarmed combat and yin ki. Usually, though, vagrants are lone wanderers that may be feared for their strength and unpredictable personality and avoided by people in general.

Races: Most vagrants are humans, who have the adaptability necessary to properly apply yin ki. Half-orc vagrants are also not particularly rare, as the wandering life of a vagrant well suits them, though they may be hampered by a half-orcs relative lack of force of personality.
Among the savage humanoids, any which understand the principles of unarmed combat or reside in an area with a monastery may take the path of the vagrant and develop their own unpredictable form of martial art.

Other Classes: While vagrants may often seem dangerous and unpredictable as party members, it is often this very view of them that brings them to adventuring parties, hoping to gain the trust and friendship of fellow creatures. Vagrants, however, have a two-sided relationship with monks; respecting them as fellow martial artists while at the same time feeling alienated by the polar forms in which they practice. Vagrants get along well with rogues and exceptionally with barbarians, both of which are generally not overly bothered by the vagrant's chaotic lifestyle. Under any circumstances, a vagrant's versatility allows her to be a great support character and work well alongside almost any class.

Role: Because there is such variability between individual vagrants, the vagrant's role depends on the focus of her training. Generally, though, a vagrant is best put alongside another fighter class, providing a tactical advantage by way of supporting abilities and techniques. Vagrants are also well suited to scouting and opportunistic combat, using her enhanced speed to move quickly in, out and around combat.

Class Table

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Alignment
Any Chaotic.

Hit Die
d8.

Class Skills
The vagrant’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at 1st Level
(4 + Int modifier) ×4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level
4 + Int modifier.


The Vagrant
{table=head]Level|

Base Attack Bonus

|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|

+0

|

+2

|

+2

|

+2

|

Bonus Feat, Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Strike

2nd|

+1

|

+3

|

+3

|

+3

|

Bonus Feat, Evasion

3rd|

+2

|

+3

|

+3

|

+3

|

Uncanny Dodge

4th|

+3

|

+4

|

+4

|

+4

|

Yin Strike (magic)

5th|

+3

|

+4

|

+4

|

+4

|
6th|

+4

|

+5

|

+5

|

+5

|

Bonus Feat

7th|

+5

|

+5

|

+5

|

+5

|

8th|

+6/+1

|

+6

|

+6

|

+6

|

Improved Uncanny Dodge

9th|

+6/+1

|

+6

|

+6

|

+6

|

Improved Evasion

10th|

+7/+2

|

+7

|

+7

|

+7

|

Yin Strike (chaotic)

11th|

+8/+3

|

+7

|

+7

|

+7

|

Greater Flurry

12th|

+9/+4

|

+8

|

+8

|

+8

|

13th|

+9/+4

|

+8

|

+8

|

+8

|
14th|

+10/+5

|

+9

|

+9

|

+9

|

15th|

+11/+6/+1

|

+9

|

+9

|

+9

|
16th|

+12/+7/+2

|

+10

|

+10

|

+10

|

Yin Strike (Adamantine)

17th|

+12/+7/+2

|

+10

|

+10

|

+10

|
18th|

+13/+8/+3

|

+11

|

+11

|

+11

|

19th|

+14/+9/+4

|

+11

|

+11

|

+11

|
20th|

+15/10/+5

|

+12

|

+12

|

+12

|

Discordant Ascension

[/table]


{table=head]Level|

Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus

|Unarmed Damage|AC Bonus|Unarmored Speed Bonus|Basic|Moderate|Advanced
1st|

-2/-2

|

1d6

|

0

|

+0 ft.|

1

|

-

|

-

2nd|

-1/-1

|

1d6

|

0

|

+0 ft.|

1

|

-

|

-

3rd|

+0/+0

|

1d6

|

0

|

+10 ft.|

2

|

-

|

-

4th|

+1/+1

|

1d8

|

0

|

+10 ft.|

2

|

-

|

-

5th|

+2/+2

|

1d8

|

+1

|

+20 ft.|

3

|

-

|

-

6th|

+3/+3

|

1d8

|

+1

|

+20 ft.|

3

|

-

|

-

7th|

+4/+4

|

1d8

|

+1

|

+20 ft.|

4

|

-

|

-

8th|

+5/+5/+0

|

1d10

|

+2

|

+20 ft.|

4

|

-

|

-

9th|

+6/+6/+1

|

1d10

|

+1

|

+30 ft.|

5

|

1

|

-

10th |

+7/+7/+2

|

1d10

|

+2

|

+30 ft.|

5

|

1

|

-

11th|

+8/+8/+8/+3

|

1d10

|

+2

|

+30 ft.|

5

|

2

|

-

12th|

+9/+9/+9/+4

|

2d6

|

+2

|

+40 ft.|

5

|

2

|

13th|

+9/+9/+9/+4

|

2d6

|

+2

|

+40 ft.

|

5

|

3

|

-

14th|

+10/+10/+10/+5

|

2d6

|

+2

|

+40 ft.|

5

|

3

|

-

15th|

+11/+11/+11/+6/+1

|

2d6

|

+3

|

+50 ft.|

5

|

4

|

1

16th|

+12/+12/+12/+7/+2

|

2d8

|

+3

|

+50 ft.|

5

|

4

|

1

17th|

+12/+12/+12/+7/+2

|

2d8

|

+3

|

+50 ft.|

5

|

4

|

2

18th|

+13/+13/+13/+8/+3

|

2d8

|

+3

|

+60 ft.|

5

|

4

|

2

19th|

+14/+14/+14/+9/+4

|

2d8

|

+3

|

+60 ft.|

5

|

4

|

3

20th|

+15/+15/+15/+10/+5

|

2d10

|

+4

|

+60 ft.|

5

|

4

|

3

[/table]

Class Features

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All of the following are class features of the vagrant.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Vagrants are proficient with club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, Javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling.
Vagrants are not proficient with any armor or shields
When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a vagrant loses her AC bonus, as well as her fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.

Unarmed Strike
At 1st level, a vagrant gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A vagrant’s attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a vagrant may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a vagrant striking unarmed. A vagrant may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes.
A vagrant’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapon or natural weapons.
A vagrant also deals more damage with her unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown on Table: The Vagrant. The unarmed damage on Table: The Vagrant is for Medium vagrants. A Small vagrant deals less damage than the amount given there with her unarmed attacks, while a Large vagrant deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage.

AC Bonus (Ex)
When unarmored and unencumbered, the vagrant adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her AC. In addition, a vagrant gains a +1 bonus to AC at 5th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every five vagrant levels thereafter (+2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th level).
These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the vagrant is flat-footed. She loses these bonuses when she is immobilized or helpless, when she wears any armor, when she carries a shield, or when she carries a medium or heavy load.

Bonus Feat
At 1st level, a vagrant may select either Improved Grapple or Stunning Fist as a bonus feat. At 2nd level, she may select either Combat Reflexes or Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat. At 6th level, she may select either Improved Disarm or Improved Trip as a bonus feat. A vagrant need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.

Flurry of Blows (Ex)

When unarmored, a vagrant may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, she may make one extra attack in a round at her highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a -2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. The resulting modified base attack bonuses are shown in the Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus column on Table: The Vagrant. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the vagrant might make before her next action. When a vagrant reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to -1, and at 9th level it disappears. A vagrant must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blows.
When using flurry of blows, a vagrant may attack only with unarmed strikes or with special vagrant weapons (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham). She may attack with unarmed strikes and special vagrant weapons interchangeably as desired. When using weapons as part of a flurry of blows, a vagrant applies her Strength bonus (not Str bonus × 1½ or ×½) to her damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether she wields a weapon in one or both hands. The vagrant can’t use any weapon other than a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows.
In the case of the quarterstaff, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though the quarterstaff requires two hands to use, a vagrant may still intersperse unarmed strikes with quarterstaff strikes, assuming that she has enough attacks in her flurry of blows routine to do so.

Greater Flurry
When a vagrant reaches 11th level, her flurry of blows ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack she gets from flurry of blows, she gets a second extra attack at her full base attack bonus.

Evasion (Ex)
At 2nd level or higher if a vagrant makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a vagrant is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless vagrant does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
At 3rd level, a vagrant retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a vagrant already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.

Yin Strike (Su)
At 4th level, the vagrant's unarmed attacks are considered magical for the purposes of penetrating Damage Reduction. The character's yin strike improves with vagrant level. At level 10, the vagrant's unarmed attacks are considered chaotically aligned for the purposes of penetrating damage reduction. At 16th level, her unarmed attacks are treated as Adamantine weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction and bypassing hardness.

Improved Evasion (Ex)

At 9th level, a vagrant’s evasion ability improves. She still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless vagrant does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Fast Movement (Ex)

At 3rd level, a vagrant gains an enhancement bonus to her speed, as shown on Table: The Vagrant. A vagrant in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.

Discordant Ascension

At 20th level, a Vagrant has become so powerful in the use of her Yin Ki that it transforms her into a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider (an extraplanar creature) with the Chaotic subtype rather than a humanoid for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the Vagrant gains Damage Reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore (instantly regenerate) the first ten points of damage made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn't have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the vagrant may still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.

Techniques

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Starting at first level, a vagrant begins to learn various techniques, reflecting the varied and chaotic nature of their training. A technique is the application of the Vagrant's Yin Ki into the extremities of her body, and as such are limited by the Vagrant's inner strength and force of personality. A vagrant may use a number of techniques per day equal to 1 + her class level + Charisma modifier, unless noted otherwise. The vagrant learns techniques at a rate described on Table: The Vagrant, and these are split between basic, moderate, and advanced. Techniques, unless noted otherwise, are used in place of attacks, and thus suffer penalties on their attack rolls depending on the order used.

Basic Techniques

Dragon Kata: The power of the dragon lies not in his size, but in teeth, claws and tail. There are none who can withstand all three. The Vagrant launches forward and thrusts, punches, and chops with the speed and focus of the dragon. By using this technique, the Vagrant may choose to deal piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage as he wishes with his unarmed strike.

Fluid Movement
Observe the pebble striking the water, grasshopper. The water knows well enough to get out of the way. The vagrant forgoes an attack in a flurry of blows to move up to 1/3 her base movement (rounded down to the nearest 5 feet). This ability may be used multiple times in an attack but moving out of combat in this manner invokes an attack of opportunity and movement per turn may not exceed the Vagrant's base land speed.

Ki Blast: It is not enough to attack with one's hands and feet; a true warrior may attack from afar. The Vagrant may, as a standard action on his turn, launch an assault of pure Yin Ki at an enemy. This can travel up to 25 feet, and if the Vagrant succeeds on a ranged touch attack, deals force damage to its target as if he had made one unarmed melee attack. However, launching a Ki Blast provokes attacks of opportunity.

Reckless Assault: Bah, it's a flesh wound. You should see the other guy. The vagrant may sacrifice up to five points from her Dodge bonus to Armor Class and receives a bonus to attack equal to the AC sacrificed. This technique can only be used with melee attacks.

Repulse the Monkey: A true world traveler knows not only how to go with the flow but also how to make others flow along. When attacked in melee combat a Vagrant can choose to use a prepared action to attempt a grapple check. If the grapple check is successful the Vagrants stops the attack and throws her opponent up to her Strength modifier times five feet away from you. If your opponent is using a reach weapon, he can opt to drop the weapon in order to avoid this attack, but is then considered disarmed instead.
Prerequisites: Improved Grapple

Somersault Assault: So long as I draw breath you can not stop me. After a charge attack the Vagrant makes a melee touch attack using Jump modifier rather than BAB. If this check is successful he may continue moving up to double his total base land speed, if he hasn't already done so. This technique can be used in conjunction with Leopard's pounce.

Tiger Kata: The tiger is one who not only strikes his opponent, but ensures that they have not the chance to strike back. The Vagrant grabs and pounces like a springing tiger. If the Vagrant uses this technique, he can initiate a grapple attempt on a successful unarmed attack. The use of this technique must be declared before an unarmed strike is used. The vagrant must have free use of at least one hand in order to use this technique.

Moderate Techniques

Discordant Blow: He who stands tallest, falls fastest. A Vagrant may expend two daily techniques in order to make a smite attack against a Lawful creature. The Discordant Blow adds half the Vagrant's Charisma bonus to both attack and damage and deals additional damage equal to half the Vagrant's class level (both rounded down).
Prerequisites: Stunning Fist.

Leopard's Pounce: To sacrifice speed for distance is the work of a fool, a true beast can accomplish both. By using this technique, a Vagrant can choose to make two attacks alongside a charge, but taking a -2 penalty on attack rolls by doing so, and the Vagrant lands in the opponents square. Both of these attacks must be made with light weapons and other techniques cannot be used alongside the Leopard's Pounce. After both attacks, a Vagrant may make a Jump check for a long jump (taking the penalty for not having a running start) to jump any number of feet he is able away from his opponent, or she may simply choose to move five feet back in the direction he charged from. If the Vagrant chooses to make jump check and it is not enough to move five feet away, the Vagrant falls prone in her opponent's square.
Prerequisites: Combat Expertise, Spring Attack, Jump 10 ranks

Ki Expulsion: Your pure bodily energy is a powerful force in its own right, but without your direction it can be unstoppable. The Vagrant opens up every pore in his body and forces his ki out, making it swirl around him, but rapidly expends his energy. While in effect, any creature within five feet of the Vagrant takes 1d6 fire damage upon entering the area and every turn they stay afterwards, and the same amount of damage is added to the vagrant's unarmed strikes. Furthermore, the vagrant gains +10 base land speed and gains one extra attack at his highest base attack bonus. Using this technique counts as one technique as normal, and maintaining it uses up one technique per round as well, including the first round of its use. A vagrant using this technique becomes fatigued for half the number of rounds he maintained it, rounded down.
Prerequisites: Ki Blast

Mystic Sword Catch: See? This is why I don't use weapons. Make an attack on a magic weapon, armor or shield as if making a sunder attempt. If you succeed in hitting it, the weapon may then make a saving throw against 5 + 1/2 Vagrant's level + Vagrant's Charisma Modifier. If the save fails, the Vagrant suppresses one random magical ability of the item for 1d4 rounds. If the struck item was a melee weapon, then during this time the Vagrant may apply the weapons power to her Yin Strike so long as the magic effect does not rely on a specific damage type. Also, the Vagrant takes any penalties associated with the ability, such as negative levels for wielding an Axiomatic weapon or damage from vicious weapons. Only one spell effect may be suppressed at one time.

Advanced Techniques

Flying Leopard's Strike: Do not fear your opponents movement. Fear your own. After a successful Leopard's Pounce, the vagrant makes a touch attack as per Somersault Assualt, as well as a grapple check. If both are successful, the vagrant carries his opponent with him to his landing spot, where the grapple then ensues as normal.
Prerequisites: Leopard's pounce, Somersault Assault, Repulse the monkey

Manifold Mastery: Magic is no different from a charging foe. It just glows more... And burns. Through years of experience and wanderings, the vagrant has learned something of the nature of magic. A vagrant may choose to forgo an attack in her Flurry of Blows in order to make an attack against a spell's save DC to dispell it, if a spell is cast before her next turn. This may only be used against spells specifically targeting the Vagrant or centered upon the Vagrant, and the Vagrant must be aware of the caster in order to do so. This technique may only be used at the time of the spell's casting.
Prerequisites: Deflect Arrows

Reverse Palm Heel Strike: When putting the full force of your body into the palm of your hand, walls shall crumble at a single blow. A successful hit from this technique immediately ends Flurry of Blows, but missed attempts allow for continuation. When executing a reverse palm heel strike, make an attack roll as normal, but add double your strength modifier to attack. If the attack is successful, then deal damage as normal, but add double your strength modifier to damage as well, and your opponent is knocked ten feet backwards. If the target is knocked into an unbreakable or resilient obstacle, such as a wall or pillar, she receives 2d6 bludgeoning damage from the impact. If not, she must make a reflex save against the damage dealt by your attack or be knocked prone.

Yin Discharge: (Fluff in progress) By the use of this powerful and dangerous technique, a Vagrant may choose to expend all of the active Ki in his body and focus it into a single powerful beam. This takes the form of a five foot-wide line of energy 50 feet + 5 feet per class level. Everything in this line takes 1d6 damage for every unused technique the Vagrant has that day, and may not be reduced. Immediately after the usage of this technique, the Vagrant must make a fortitude save with a DC equal to 10 + the number of techniques expended or fall unconcious for 2d4 hours. Even upon a successful save, a Vagrant becomes exhausted as he channels all her energy into the blast.
Prerequisites: Ki Blast

Chain of Strikes

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Upon learning a certain techniques and mastering their usage in combat, a vagrant can use her understanding of chaotic fighting to combine them into a combination whose sum is greater than its parts. A vagrant may execute a Chain of Strikes as a full attack, but no five-foot steps may be taken between attacks.

Reverse the Tiger: I need no blade. Yours is good enough for me.
As a full-round action you may make a disarm attempt against an opponent, and if this attempt succeeds you may make a full attack using with your opponent's held weapon. At the end of this attack you may make a trip attempt against your opponent at full base attack bonus, gaining an extra attack as normal for the Improved Trip feat. All penalties for not being proficient with the disarmed weapon still accrue.
Prerequisites: Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, ((more to come))

The Dragon: Even if you escape the jaws of The Dragon, the swirling winds shall draw you to him, and the claws will rip you to shreds. A vagrant may make three unarmed strikes against a single opponent at her full base attack bonus, each dealing piercing damage; if at least two of these hit she may also make a rend attack dealing 2d6 slashing damage. The vagrant then executes a jab at his full base attack minus five, dealing unarmed bludgeoning damage; if this attack is successful, the opponent loses his dexterity bonus to AC until the end of the vagrant's turn and may execute an unarmed strike at full base attack minus dealing slashing damage. Finally, the vagrant may execute a Reverse Palm Heel Strike (as the technique). If the strike is successful, the vagrant may launch an assault of pure Yin Ki at his prone opponent, dealing 2d10 bludgeoning damage.
Prerequisites: Dragon Kata, Reverse Palm Heel Strike, Ki Blast ((more to come))

Admittedly, this is essentially a bump to the Chaotic Monks thread. However, now that the chart and stats are in the first post, maybe we can get some more help with the class, eh? Notice also the depressing lack of techniques. Help witht that please?

(EDIT)Now that the vagrant is well underway and all that it really lacks is a proper supply of techniques, I would like to know if there is anything that it really needs.
-Is it overpowered?
-Is it underpowered?
-Is it boring, dull or cliché?
-Would you play or allow this in a campaign?
-Most importantly, what can be done to fix it?

[Zarincos]

hmm, well, it's a little confusing, when the vagrant gets new basic techniques, does he learn new ones or is he able to use them more time per day? and i notice it has no capstone, so maybe a master technique that goes something like this:

*flying eagle strike*

When you attack someone from a jump (such as from a rooftop) you can immediately attempt a grapple check, with a +4, and, if successful, you automatically and instantly pin and silence the target.

other then that it looks a bit overpowered, although i don't know how effective all of the monk's diamond body etc. are.

[Icewalker]

I like it, I have recently been working on a similar class of my own, based around hand to hand combat, but I like this one.
I think Reverse Palm Heel Strike shouldn't have to be the final attack in a chain, but if it succeeds it ends the chain. So you could compose a chain of entirely those so you would have more chances of it hitting, but once it did it ended the chain of attacks.

[Druid]

Looks kind of weak, though I like the idea. Why vagrant? That just seems like an odd name for a master of martial arts.

[Talyn]

It...is... the anti-monk! I like it, and flavor seems very entertaining. Oh, and the unarmed strike scales at the Vagrant increases in level, like a monk, right?

[EDIT] Never mind. That oughtta teach me to read ALL the tables before I post, right?[/EDIT]

[Eighth_Seraph]

I'm actually thinking of making a capstone ability called Chain of Strikes. Basically, by learning different techniques that work well together, a vagrant can make a combo whose sum is greater than its parts and can use the whole combo as a full-round action allowing a five-foot step before or after it, but not between attacks. Here's one I made earlier today, though the techniques necessary to make it haven't really been statted out yet...

The Dragon: Even if you escape the jaws of The Dragon, the swirling winds shall draw you to him, and the claws will rip you to shreds. A vagrant may make three unarmed strikes against a single opponent at her full base attack bonus, each dealing piercing damage; if at least two of these hit she may also make a rend attack dealing 2d6 slashing damage. The vagrant then executes a jab at his full base attack minus five, dealing unarmed bludgeoning damage; if this attack is successful, the opponent loses his dexterity bonus to AC until the end of the vagrant's turn and may execute an unarmed strike at full base attack minus dealing slashing damage. Finally, the vagrant may execute a Reverse Palm Heel Strike (as the technique). If the strike is successful, the vagrant may launch an assault of pure Yin Ki at his prone opponent, dealing 2d10 bludgeoning damage.

Yeah, it's pretty strong. Stronger than the monk, undoubtedly, but that's really a problem with the monk's underpowered-ness in most situations. Anyway, Each of the individual attacks in The Dragon corresponds to a technique that the vagrant needs to know to execute it. The three piercing strikes at the beginning stem from Dragon Kata, and then there's the reverse palm heel strike. The Yin Ki thing I'm thinking of making into a technique representing the Hadouken from Street Fighter. I forget who it is that made a class for Ken and Ryu, but his interpretation was pretty balanced. I'll start hunting it down.

In case that didn't give it away, vagrants do not have a limit for technique use per day, in most cases. Any technique that explicitly uses large amounts of Yin Ki may be limited to a number of uses per day equal to the vagrant's Charisma bonus. Also, this is the product of a now-dead thread called Chaotic Monks, and this is what we all came up with. I really want to finish the class, though, so I cleaned it up a bit and posted it here again. I have to add Chain of Strikes (though I'm not really decided on whether I'm going to use it or not) as well as the capstone opposite of the monk: a transformation into a chaotic outsider.

(EDIT)

I like it, I have recently been working on a similar class of my own, based around hand to hand combat, but I like this one.
I think Reverse Palm Heel Strike shouldn't have to be the final attack in a chain, but if it succeeds it ends the chain. So you could compose a chain of entirely those so you would have more chances of it hitting, but once it did it ended the chain of attacks.

Well, what I was worried about was a large monk's capacity for destruction with multiple uses of this move, but you make a definite point. I'll get right on that.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Alright, I started adding some more techniques and broke the class down into easy to read chunks. That should teach me to reserve a few posts before I open the thread to the world. Also added Leopard's Pounce as a moderate technique. I'm actually hoping to make a few technique progressions, each leading to a very powerful Chain of Strikes. Thus far I've a Dragon-based one, a Cat based one (Tiger Kata and Leopard's Pounce), and maybe a grapple/throwing based progression with Repulse the Monkey.

Also, Bump.

[MeklorIlavator]

The Dragon flavor text is from an amime, isn't it(Roruni Kenshin, if I am not mistaken?)

[fleet]

Hi seraph good to see you carrying this on. I was wondering about the fact that it looks like half the moves combine to form the dragon so how about a monkey/tiger ultimate.

Reverse the Tiger: I need no blade. Yours is good enough for me.
As a full action you may make a disarm attempt. If this attempt succeeds you may make a full standard attack but with your opponents weapon. At the end of this attack you may attempt to trip your opponent.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Wow, some people from Chaotic Monks are still alive. Someone's not going getting paid their asking price.

Anyway, that looks pretty good, though the language could use some polishing. I'll get right on that. Also, this needs some pre-reqs, Improved Trip and Improved Disarm maybe, in order to get that extra attack after the final trip. I like it, but it's obviously meant to be a Chain of Blows and not a technique, so we need some requisite techniques to be made for it.

In case I didn't make it clear, I am essentially asking for people to help me in making new techniques for the Vagrant, since my creativity is more or less burned out.

(EDIT) Added in Reverse the Tiger written rather differently. Whattaya think, Fleet?

[Eighth_Seraph]

Looks kind of weak, though I like the idea. Why vagrant? That just seems like an odd name for a master of martial arts.

I wasn't the one to come up with the name, but we mostly agreed on Vagrant because the original idea (and to a large extent the current one) was that of a martial artist who would go out traveling the world and bettering his martial arts on the way. I also tend to think of it in the light that Vagrants are shunning the traditional disciplined and focused form of learning martial arts in favor of their own style.

The Dragon flavor text is from an amime, isn't it(Roruni Kenshin, if I am not mistaken?)

Right you are, good sir. Haven't followed the anime much, but I did see that episode with Kenshin's ultimate attack and its application.

I figured the complete lack of response may be punishment for not responding to you guys first. Anyway, this is my last bump to this thread. If anyone plans on helping me make techniques or class features for the Vagrant, then please do so before the thread dies. My current issue is that I can't seem to figure out a half-decent name for the level 20 "Turn into a chaotic outsider" capstone ability.

[fleet]

I was looking the monk over and it occured to me that the vagrant as we have it now is increadibly weak against mages. Monks at level 13 get spell resistance. So tell me what you think of this.

Manifold mastery Magic is no differnt from a charging foe. It just glows more... And burns.
Advanced Technique
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Int 13, Deflect Arrows,Repulse the Monkey, yin strike magic.
Through years of experiance and wanderings, the vagrant has learned something of the nature of magic. He may make use an attack against the spell's dc to dispell it. If a spell has been affected by the permancy spell this ability will not work.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Er, could you clarify that a bit? Sounds good, but is it a prepared action to hit an incoming fireball? The Vagrant's swift action? That needs to be cleared up a bit, I think. Also, would it be Basic, Moderate or Advanced?

[fleet]

I suppose this can essentially be seen as a dispell attack. So then it would be used as part of a set of attacks. I think it should be limited only to attacks that come into range of him but extended to allow the vagrant to forgo an attack in a set for latter use as a spell shield. Also since this is basicly an attack on a spell i think we can treat the spell's dc as it's armor class. Thus if bob the vagrant hits moe the fighter with 2 attacks at 15 bab and 10 bab respectivly. Bob can hold his last attack for when Shirley the mage hurts magic missle at bob. Bob can then use this held attack at bb 5 plus what ever bonuses he might have from str or feats to attempt to deflect Shriey's attack. Originally though I came up with this because I realised that certain mage spells like force cage or force wall could stop a vagrant from acting for an entire battle. If a spell is not targeted at the vagrant like a fire ball or a cloud kill then he can just make a save like the rest of us.

[Eighth_Seraph]

I'll get right on putting that into a feasible format. Anyone got any ideas on new techs? The poor Vagrant could really use 'em.

[fleet]

sorry about posting so much in one day but I found some stuff I was going to originally put on the chaos monk forum. It's a couple of choas based techs.

Fluid Movement
Observe the pebble striking the water grasshopper. The water knows well enough to get out of the way.
Basic Technique
The vagrant forgoes an attack in a chain of blows to move up to 1/3 his base movement. (rounded to the nearest 5 feet.) This ability may be used multiple times in an attack but moving out of combat in this manner invokes an attack of opportunity.

Mystic Sword Catch
See this is why I don't use weapons.
Moderate Technique
Make an attack on a magic weapon. If you succeed in hitting it you supress one effect for 1d4+cha modifer rounds. During this time you may apply the weapons power to your yin strike so long as the magic effect does not rely on a specific damage type. (i.e No vorporal or keen unarmed strike.) Only one spell effect may be stolen at a time.

Discordant Blow
He whos stands tallest, falls fastest.
Advanced Technique
As a full action the vagrant may forgo all his attacks in exchange for one smite law attack.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Whew. There we go. Modified all your suggested ones quite a bit, if you don't mind, and they look pretty good to me, though that may be a bit biased. What do you think of how I handled Discordant Blow? I don't want to spend on the paladin's toes too much, so I didn't make it damage equal to class level. This is starting to look pretty good now...

Also, I added one more basic technique and one more advanced technique to the Vagrant, in order to give it a smoother progression throughout. I'm also worried about how awesome this is turning out. Is this getting too overpowered with all these techniques? Especially since every one we add makes the Vagrant more likely to spend extra points in Charisma as opposed to strength, for example.

(EDIT) Added capstone Discordant Ascension to keep parallels to the monk and officially changed Yin Ki Strike to plain Yin Strike, since I found Fleet's misuse of the term to be rather catchy.

[Tussy the Druid]

Personally, I wouldn't want to take this class. Too many blank levels.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Personally, I wouldn't want to take this class. Too many blank levels.

As opposed to, say, the Fighter or the Paladin, you mean? I agree that looking at the first table leaves alot of dead levels, but remember that a Vagrant gains a new technique every odd level, which alone puts him on par with the Fighter in terms of number of new abilities, and far above the core paladin (though some of the fixes on these forums look really nice).

Now let's see how many dead level this baby has, then. Not counting level-dependent improvements, they are levels 8, 12, 14, 18. This may, admittedly be considered an issue. If you look at the improvements for unarmored speed, unarmed damage improvement and vagrant AC bonus, the list shrinks to just level 14. I could fill that in with a chaotic alternative to Still Mind, for example, but I want to make this a chaotic martial artist class, as opposed to a 'monk, but just chaotic'. It's rather a difficult thing to accomplish, but I'm willing to take any ideas on how to improve this class.

[fleet]

It seems fine, except for the manifold mastery change. I intended this technique as a vagrant's option to make up for lack of spell resistance at level ten.
As for the still mind we could just give the vagrant slipery mind as the rouge ability.

[Eighth_Seraph]

A good idea, that.

It seems fine, except for the manifold mastery change. I intended this technique as a vagrant's option to make up for lack of spell resistance at level ten.

Alright, but I'm trying to keep it balanced. Maybe make it a swift action instead of a prepared action? The problem with that fix the Vagrant gets screwed against multiple spellcasters or quickened spells that way. hrm.... Not sure what to do. Any suggestions?

[Ultimatum479]

Advanced tech for ya.

Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique:
If you land 5 unarmed attacks on your opponent without either of you moving (they do not all have to be in the same round), he dies, no save.

That level of power matches this overpowered class, I think.

[fleet]

... uhm ok. On a differnt note the play testing of the vagrant has been compleated. Leapord pounce and discordent blow both require fixing. Other than that we just need a few more moderate techs and this will be a decent character for use in a game.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Actually, I'd prefer a whole new host of techs. I'm making a set based around expulsion of Yin Ki, using it directly to devastating effect, but causes Fatigue and Exhaustion. Also, apparently unlimited use of techniques is overpowered, according to Ultimatum, so I'm thinking of making a system based around class level and Charisma modifier to limit techniques on the basis that each requires an expenditure of Yin Ki.

(EDIT) I think I fixed both Discordant Blow and Leopard's Pounce for proper balance, as well as introduced the limited techs per day system and Ki Discharge, a new advanced technique. Admittedly, this is Ryu's 'Shinkuu Hadouken', but I felt that ripping the name off would be a bit much.

(EDIT the second) Added 'Playing a Vagrant' section

[fleet]

How about
Muy thai
(Bah, it's a flesh wound you should see the other guy)
Basic technique
The vagrant may exchange up to 5 points of armor class to his base attack bonus for this round.
This technique does not use yin ki and can only be used for melee attacks.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Not sure how much Rainspattered would appreciate the entire art of Muay Thai being condensed into a technique, but the idea is good. I'm wondering about a limit based around BAB or maybe Dex bonus to AC, that will only be relevant at low levels, like from Expertise. I'll write it up and insert into the not-quite-as-deprived-as-it-once-was list of techs. This might be getting good now.

Also, in the upcoming campaign I'll be joining in (Hosted by Fleet) it appears that techs may not quite balance the monk's class abilities, but are actually quite a bit weaker in the early stages. Ideas, comments, counterpoints?

[ArmorArmadillo]

Ah, nice to see the finished project.

P.S. I'm pretty sure nothing has DR/Chaotic. Might switch it to silver, and adamantine to cold iron.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Well, inmy original draft back on the Chaotic Monks thread, I had done exactly that, but then I realized that while both overcome damage reduction, cold iron has no other properties to put it on level with adamantine, since the latter ignores hardness to a certain degree. As for Yin Strike (chaotic), you are absolutely correct. However, I don't think that silver would be the best solution, since lycanthropes' powers are rather chaotic in nature.

Maybe we could call it Yin Strike (chaos) and simply make it overcome the damage reduction of creatures with the Lawful subtype? That may be slightly overpowered in the right campaign, though. Interestingly enough, it actually seems that the Vagrant is really underpowered right now, since all it has is the basic 'martial artist' aspects of the monk, taking away all other class abilities and replacing them with an extremely incomplete list of techniques that are supposed to synergize to make the vagrant competent. I want to playtest this in a campaign, but for issued I'd rather not discuss I've pulled myself from the campaign I was going to do so in. Anyone care to help me in this issue?

[ArmorArmadillo]

Well, Silver also overcomes the DR of Devils (Uber-Lawful) and certain undead (Often very Lawful). The theory of Silver is that it's naturally chaotic, shifting nature overcomes the Lawfulness of Devils. Lycanthropes is a holdover from classic horror tales. Also, some Lycanthropes (like Wererats) are Lawful. Overcoming all Lawful creatures is a little overpowered, and it kind of skews the way that DR is supposed to work.

I think you should stick with Yin Strike (Silver). But, I think keeping Adamantine is a good idea.

[Eighth_Seraph]

Hrm...I ran up a search throughout d20srd.org, and I came up with some results for this theory. Turns out the only core creature with Damage Reduction x/Lawful (as per the Monk) is the Titan, and that the only creatures with Damage Reduction x/chaotic are the Inevitables. Frankly, both abilities are underpowered, but the monk one even more so, so while it is true that silver overcomes devils' DR, I think it would be best to keep the parallels between the monk and the vagrant.

Also, Armor, I really don't think that what I have here can be quite considered a finished product. It's VERY underpowered due to its lack of abilities, and I could use some help coming up with new ones. Care to contribute?