Fighter Prestige class lvl17+

[Mordante]

My character fighter 10/Archblade 5 will soon become lvl16. I will give him one more level in Archblade. My character is far from optimized but he is fun none the less.

Now and if (you never know) he will reach level 17 I'd like to go into another prestige class but I really cant find anything nice. A hard rule would be no casting abilities. What I am looking for is some kind of hardened warrior. After years of battle the fight has become really though and battle hardened. The fighter is not easily scared or impressed. He has seen it all and survived.

I was thinking about things like
+1 natural armour for each level in this class
Increased hitpoints when leveling
Increased will/fortitude/reflex saves

things like that.

Is there is a prestige class like that?

[Biggus]

Where is Archblade from? The only reference to it I can find is in the homebrew section of D&D Wiki, and that version is only 5 levels long.

As to your question, the nearest thing I can think of is the epic prestige class Legendary Dreadnought, if you're allowed to use homebrew material maybe see if your DM will allow a slightly toned-down version of that pre-epic?

If you're a Dwarf there's Dwarven Defender, again possibly could be adapted to non-dwarfs if not?

[Mordante]

Where is Archblade from? The only reference to it I can find is in the homebrew section of D&D Wiki, and that version is only 5 levels long.

As to your question, the nearest thing I can think of is the epic prestige class Legendary Dreadnought, if you're allowed to use homebrew material maybe see if your DM will allow a slightly toned-down version of that pre-epic?

If you're a Dwarf there's Dwarven Defender, again possibly could be adapted to non-dwarfs if not?

See here for Archblade: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Archbl...restige_Class)

"Against those who do not take critical hits, you apply damageX1.5." was removed, GM thought it was OP.

[Biggus]

See here for Archblade: https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Archbl...restige_Class)

Yeah, that's the link I found. Note that unless your DM has changed it, it's only a 5-level class pre-epic, which means you can't take a 6th level until level 21. As it's homebrew, presumably your DM is open to other homebrew material?

[Mordante]

Yeah, that's the link I found. Note that unless your DM has changed it, it's only a 5-level class pre-epic, which means you can't take a 6th level until level 21. As it's homebrew, presumably your DM is open to other homebrew material?

I don't see where it says that it's a 5-level pre-epic prestige class.

Entry Requirements Base Attack Bonus: +10
Feats: Improved Critical, Weapon Focus, Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Specialization applied to the chosen weapon.

As far as I can tell it's not OP. But then again we haven't been in combat for half a year. The DM is open for homebrew depending on the player and the brew.

[MisterKaws]

I don't see where it says that it's a 5-level pre-epic prestige class.

It has a 5-level table. Surely that means it's a 10-level class, doesn't it?

[Biggus]

I don't see where it says that it's a 5-level pre-epic prestige class.

The table near the top only goes up to level 5, and the class features only refer to levels up to 5. After the subtitle "epic Archblade" there's a table which continues progression from level 6 and text which refers to level 6+. Compare to the format for pre-epic and post-epic progressions in published books, it's clear that level 6-15 are epic only.

[Mordante]

The table near the top only goes up to level 5, and the class features only refer to levels up to 5. After the subtitle "epic Archblade" there's a table which continues progression from level 6 and text which refers to level 6+. Compare to the format for pre-epic and post-epic progressions in published books, it's clear that level 6-15 are epic only.

But that really doesn’t change my original question.

Is there a (prestige)class that makes a fighter tougher, hardened?

[The Kool]

There are a few things that could satisfy your goals, depending on your build so far. A short dip into Paladin would work, if you have a high Charisma, to boost your saves and give you some healing (which is almost as good as bonus HP). A Barbarian variant can satisfy the high HP. There's a Pathfinder class (worth mentioning if you're brewing) called Living Monolith that I rather enjoy. To be more precise, we need to know your build to see what you qualify for.

[liquidformat]

Also what books do you have access to besides homebrew, are there any books or things like dragon mag that are strictly forbidden?

[Mordante]

There are a few things that could satisfy your goals, depending on your build so far. A short dip into Paladin would work, if you have a high Charisma, to boost your saves and give you some healing (which is almost as good as bonus HP). A Barbarian variant can satisfy the high HP. There's a Pathfinder class (worth mentioning if you're brewing) called Living Monolith that I rather enjoy. To be more precise, we need to know your build to see what you qualify for.

Paladin is a no go.

Alignment True Neutal/Chaotic Neutral He has seen enough of the world that he knows everyone is just trying to get rich and **** the rest. He mostly stopped caring for "the greater good"
with items Str22 Dex16 Con18 Int 10 Wis 13 Cha 8
Skills points in:
climb, jump, knowledge history-local-nobility and royalty, Ride, swim and tumble.

feats:
weapon focus, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Specialization, Melee Master, Improved Critical, Improved Toughness
Armour Born, Caster Killer, Magic Breaker, Perfection, Superior Critical

Race Deamon Elf

He started out being young and dumb. Fighting the good cause. The evil enemy was killing our men, raping the women. The during battles he was in he found "the good guys" were doing the exact same thing as the bad guys. Everyone was killing and raping and looting. Regardless of sides. But he was pretty good at is so for a while he didn't care to much. He relished the battle, to fight a strong opponent. He got noticed by the leaders got invited to strategy meetings, army commanders etc.

There he noticed that often it was not the King or some Lord that was pushing for a fight but often it was the "wise man" that was manipulating the leaders. The man behind the Kings, Lords and Ladies. Often they were manipulators using magic and tricks and vague promises to keep the men fighting. (see wormtongue and Saruman in Lords of the Ring).

So he walked away from the battle. But not from the fight. During the fight he was himself focused and pure. More and more he focused on the blade the form the execution of the fight. He looked into the blade and the blade looked back at him.

Now he kinda of wonders the world joining a adventure group when money runs out or if somehow the cause against better judgement looks good. Other times he is just a bouncer at some bar or whore house. Or getting kicked out of the bar or whore house for unpaid bills.

More or less by accident he joined this group of adventurers. Partly because they have a well stocked house with ale and food.

No one in the group knows who he is or exactly what he is.

I play him a bit as a drunken semi rude fighter. His Cha is decent until he opens his mouth, years of being in an army will make you less socially adapted. Also he is sort of bisexual. He prefers women. But if you get stuck for men for years on some campaign in the middle of nowhere, things happen.

[Mordante]

Also what books do you have access to besides homebrew, are there any books or things like dragon mag that are strictly forbidden?

No psionics, no dragon magazine. If the idea is good enough and realistic anything goes. Books are not really a problem lots of PDFs.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Crusader (Tome of Battle) is a personal favorite of mine. The neat thing about ToB classes is that half of your other levels count towards your initiator level, so with 16 levels in Fighter/Archblade and one in Crusader you qualify for 5th level martial maneuvers.

You could do the same thing with Warblade (which has slightly simpler mechanics), but a lot of those good higher level maneuvers need you to have lower level ones first, and Crusader learns 2 more at the first level. Also, at 2nd level Crusaders get to add their Cha to will saves.

Note: Technically, you do need to be CN rather than TN for Crusader, though your DM might waive that.

[Mordante]

Crusader (Tome of Battle) is a personal favorite of mine. The neat thing about ToB classes is that half of your other levels count towards your initiator level, so with 16 levels in Fighter/Archblade and one in Crusader you qualify for 5th level martial maneuvers.

You could do the same thing with Warblade (which has slightly simpler mechanics), but a lot of those good higher level maneuvers need you to have lower level ones first, and Crusader learns 2 more at the first level. Also, at 2nd level Crusaders get to add their Cha to will saves.

Note: Technically, you do need to be CN rather than TN for Crusader, though your DM might waive that.

Crusader looks nice. A bi complicated though. When I have time I'll study it some more. However my low Charisma score of 8 is not great for being a Crusader.

[Mr Adventurer]

Swordsage into Master of Nine. The chassis doesn't look that impressive but what the manoeuvres bring to the table will more than make up for it.