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Orcish Juggernaut
“Who put that here?!” – Nanny Grucsh, breaking through three feet thick iron doors
Over the hundreds of years of continuous attacks on civilized lands Orcish hordes have stumbled upon several inventions made in order to stop them. Thick walls of strongholds, iron defenses of the dwarfs, outnumbering and strategically superior enemy forces, changing terrain, finally all kinds of magic - way to often their fury had crashed against them like waves against rocks of the shore. But Orcs are much smarter than it may seem. If you throw something at them, they shall adapt - that's how they survived for so long and how they shall continue for years to come. Slowly, over the years and in great secret, many Orc tribes were creating new weapon - special group of warriors selected and trained from the greatest, strongest and toughtest fighters and barbarians among the horde, all in one purpose - to break the enemy defenses. These so called “Juggernauts” are capable of breaking through almost anything that could stop rest of the troops and the strongest of them managed to even gain natural immunity to magic. They live with only one goal – to charge and to smash. They aren’t great thinkerers, you point them in general direction of the target, they destroy, that’s all that is to them.
Requirements:
Must be an Orc, Ogre, Half-Orc or Half-Ogre.
Base Attack Bonus +5 or more
Proficent in heavy armor
Feats: Great Fortitude, Endurance
Hit die: d12
Table: Orcish Juggernaut
Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
1st
+1
+2
+0
+1
Improved Charge, Bonus Feat, Used to Armor 1
2nd
+2
+3
+0
+2
Rampaging Terror, Wallbreaker, Natural Armor +1
3rd
+3
+3
+1
+2
Overwhelm, Used to Armor 2
4th
+4
+4
+1
+3
Got ya!, Natural Armor +2
5th
+5
+4
+1
+3
Foe Tossing Charge, Bonus Feat, Used to Armor 3
6th
+6
+5
+2
+4
Body over Mind, Next Big Thing, Natural Armor +3
7th
+7
+5
+2
+4
Thunder Clap, Freedom of Movement, Used to Armor 4
Weapon and armor proficency: Orcish juggernaut is proficent with all simple and martial weapons, but no shields.
Improved Charge: At first level orcish juggernaut can charge at double speed even if he can make only standard action or move action this turn. He also can make full attack when he charges.
Bonus Feat: At first level orcish juggernaut may choose either Improved Unarmed Strike or Improved Grapple as his bonus feat.
Used to armor: At first level orcish juggernaut does't suffer maximum speed penalty for wearing medium armor. At fith level Orcish Juggernaut doesn't suffer maximum speed penalty for wearing heavy armor. Additonally, at first level and every two levels taken in this class thereafter orcish juggernaut's AC penalty for wearing an armor deceases by 1.
Natural Armor: At second level and every two levels taken in this class thereafter orcish juggernaut gains +1 to his Natural Armor bonus
Rampaging Terror: At second level whenever orcish juggernaut charges his opponent must make a sucessful Will save or becomes shaken. If he is then hit by charge, all other enemies must make a successful Will save or become Frightened.
Wallbreaker: At second level orcish juggernaut can charge at the opponent even if there are objects blocking his path, but must make successful Strength check at breaking every such object. If he fails he becomes prone and takes 1d4 damage. He may also use charge to break through the walls and doors at successful Strength check.
Overwhelm: At third level orcish juggernaut cannot be avoided when he attempts to overrun his opponent. During the overrun orcish juggernaut deals the target damage equal to his unarmed damage.
Got ya!: At fourth level if the orcish juggernaut makes a successful grapple check against a smaller opponent he may use his target as an improvised weapon, taking all usual penalties. To get free the opponent must make successful Escape Artist check or grapple check, choosing higher of the two, against juggernaut’s grapple check, which he may attempt at the beginning of every turn. After every successful attack with this improvised weapon, the opponent suffers damage equal the damage dealt to the attack’s target. If the opponent is dead, after every successful attack make Fortitude save with DC 5 x number of successful attacks used with him as a weapon – if it fails, the body breaks apart and is useless.
Foe Tossing Charge: At fifth level orcish juggernaut doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity when he attempts Bull’s Rush during the Charge and can charge opponent if there is another creature standing in his way, as long as said creature is smaller than him. He automatically overruns every smaller opponent in his path without dealing damage from Overwhelm ability.
Bonus Feat: At fifth level orcish juggernaut may choose either Monkey Grip or Diehard as his bonus feat.
Body over Mind: At sixth level orcish juggernaut may substitute his Constitution modifier for his Wisdom modifier when calculating his Will.
Next Big Thing: At sixth level whenever orcish juggernaut fights larger opponent, he is treated as one size larger than he actually is.
Thunder Clap: At seventh level orcish juggernaut may clap his hands to create the effect of Shout spell. He may do this number of times per day equal half of his character level rounded down.
Freedom of Movement: At seventh level orcish juggernaut gains all the bonuses like if he was under permanent effects of Freedom of Movement spell.
Walking Stronghold: At Eighth level orcish juggernaut is granted Fortitude save to negate all damage dealt to him by results of spells, even if they don't allow a save.
Mental Drill: At ninth level orcish juggernaut may pass through magic barriers like wall of force or forcecage by making successful Will save against spell's save DC.
Unbreakable War Machine: At tenth level orcish juggernaut can turn his body into soild steel with a sheer power of will – twice per day he may grant himself all effects of Iron Body spell as if it was casted on him by a caster with caster level equal his character level. Addtionally orcish juggernaut doesn’t need to eat, drink or breathe anymore.
It's good, it looks really fun, a few tweaks needed for readability, clarity and a few balance things:
Elegance (Spelling, Grammar, Clarity):
Mispelling. A few instances of strenght vs. the proper strength.
Improved Charge is unclear and I had to read it a few times to grasp what you meant. Reword?
Bonus Feat - fisrt vs. first (misspelling)
Used to Armor: Remove the 'an' before armor. Unecessary.
Natural Armor: I'd say every two levels taken in this class, for clarity.
Rampaging Terror: You capitalize Will once and leave it uncapitalized elsewhere. Consistency would be best.
Wallbreaker could be broken into two sentences, it's a bit run-on and clarity suffers. Fortitude score is unclear.
Trample: FYI, this is the name of a core monster ability. It's like giving an ability called flight that does something completely different from regular flight. Perhaps something typing it to the overrrun ability? Overwhelm? Something like that? Blitz?
Trample, again: 'he deals him' is unclear. Reword?
Trample, yet again: The 'unarmed strike damage roll', you should delete the word 'roll' as it's redundant.
Got Ya!: You capitalize fourth but don't capitalize second, third, etc, earlier.
Got Ya!: "At Fourth level if Orcish Juggernaut makes a successful grapple check against smaller opponent" - should be 'if the Orcish Juggernaut' and 'against a smaller opponent'.
Hrm. Gonna stop here. Recommending a proofread though.
Gamplay Issues & Balance
Trample - what if he doesn't have an unarmed strike?
Got Ya: Why 1d6 turns? That's kind of arbitrary.
Got Ya: I'd say that it should be the enemy's choice of a grapple check or an escape artist check. Very very few enemies have ranks in escape artist, so it's almost not even worth having them roll for it.
Enemy Tossing Charge: I think the damage should scale. It's negligible otherwise (what use is 1d6 damage at level 15?)
Thunder Clap: I'd say a number of times a day? Otherwise you do it ~3 times and then once more every other level, which is very few times.
Force Field: Too vague. Does a charm spell count (if he's charmed, he's not moving under his own volition), or a suggestion to lie prone?
Stay on Path: One ability I am not a fan of. It seems redundant. I think you'd do better to have a way through forcecages and the like than to be concerned about this.
It's good, it looks really fun, a few tweaks needed for readability, clarity and a few balance things:
Elegance (Spelling, Grammar, Clarity):
Mispelling. A few instances of strenght vs. the proper strength.
Improved Charge is unclear and I had to read it a few times to grasp what you meant. Reword?
Bonus Feat - fisrt vs. first (misspelling)
Used to Armor: Remove the 'an' before armor. Unecessary.
Natural Armor: I'd say every two levels taken in this class, for clarity.
Rampaging Terror: You capitalize Will once and leave it uncapitalized elsewhere. Consistency would be best.
Wallbreaker could be broken into two sentences, it's a bit run-on and clarity suffers. Fortitude score is unclear.
Trample: FYI, this is the name of a core monster ability. It's like giving an ability called flight that does something completely different from regular flight. Perhaps something typing it to the overrrun ability? Overwhelm? Something like that? Blitz?
Trample, again: 'he deals him' is unclear. Reword?
Trample, yet again: The 'unarmed strike damage roll', you should delete the word 'roll' as it's redundant.
Got Ya!: You capitalize fourth but don't capitalize second, third, etc, earlier.
Got Ya!: "At Fourth level if Orcish Juggernaut makes a successful grapple check against smaller opponent" - should be 'if the Orcish Juggernaut' and 'against a smaller opponent'.
Hrm. Gonna stop here. Recommending a proofread though.
Gamplay Issues & Balance
Trample - what if he doesn't have an unarmed strike?
Got Ya: Why 1d6 turns? That's kind of arbitrary.
Got Ya: I'd say that it should be the enemy's choice of a grapple check or an escape artist check. Very very few enemies have ranks in escape artist, so it's almost not even worth having them roll for it.
Enemy Tossing Charge: I think the damage should scale. It's negligible otherwise (what use is 1d6 damage at level 15?)
Thunder Clap: I'd say a number of times a day? Otherwise you do it ~3 times and then once more every other level, which is very few times.
Force Field: Too vague. Does a charm spell count (if he's charmed, he's not moving under his own volition), or a suggestion to lie prone?
Stay on Path: One ability I am not a fan of. It seems redundant. I think you'd do better to have a way through forcecages and the like than to be concerned about this.
Thanks a lot for al the suggestions, I try to listen to them.
UPDATE:
Cleared all misspelling I could find, will attempt another clearance again
Changed Trample's name to Overwhelm
Added Mental Drill ability
Removed time limit from Got Ya! and allowed enemy to use his grapple to escape
Cleared describtions in Force Field, Wallbreaker, Thunderclap, Overwhelm and Got Ya!.
Requirements: Must be an Orc, Ogre, Half-Orc or half-Ogre.
Proficent in heavy armor
Strength and Constitution 18+.
Feats: Great Fortitude, Endurance
So, some LA, a flaw, and some really good rolls, and I can enter this class with my second level. Might I suggest a BAB requirement to prohibit lower level entry?
__________________
Quote:
"To play a fighter is to play the game.
To play a wizard is to understand the rules.
To understand the rules, and play a fighter, is to understand the game."
-Lycar
Quote:
Originally Posted by jiriku
...magical trumps mundane so often that mundane really needs to be able to give magic a good kick in the junk now and then.
So, some LA, a flaw, and some really good rolls, and I can enter this class with my second level. Might I suggest a BAB requirement to prohibit lower level entry?
Sure, just say how high it should be. +5 will be enough?
Overall, good work. It looks fun to play, it looks effective and it's not so complicated that I couldn't throw one at my PCs were I DMing one as an encounter.
Overall, good work. It looks fun to play, it looks effective and it's not so complicated that I couldn't throw one at my PCs were I DMing one as an encounter.
Thanks a lot, I really appricate that you pointed out to me all mistakes I made. If you see any other or something odd, tell me, I really like good criticism.
Update:
Added +5 BAB as requirement, don't know if shouldn't be higher.
I also think of adding up to 2 more feats tis guy can choose as his bonus feat at fifth level. Any ideas?
I've got a few problems with this one, honestly. I like the idea, but there's a lot of disconnects.
first of all, your fort progression is completely unlike any traditional progression. it should be 1/2 level +2
One thing I'd like to suggest is making this a PRC for dungeoncrasher fighter., from dungeonscape.
Pounce at first level is a bit strong, methinks.
Used to armor should be spread out. Slowly reducing the Armor check penalty, maybe no speed penalty for medium at first, then heavy at fifth.
Rampaging Terror: skill check vs. save isn't even a contest. It breaks down to 3+level vs. 2+1/2 level, at best. You could just give it a will save. 10+1/2 class level+cha is pretty solid.
Wallbreaker: What? What do you mean by fortitude? base fort save? What is it greater than? Hardness? The number of walls? This whole thing needs reworking. I'm not sure how one would fix it, though. Maybe you can make strength checks to break objects and walls as part of a move action? Allow you to keep moving after the break? Check the breaking items table for DCs. One important thing is removing the 'charge through everything' clause.
Got Ya: I would suggest making it so you don't need to be charging to use this ability, and the 'weapon' takes full damage.
Enemy tossing charge. I like the idea, but I don't think it works as is. Maybe instead of pushing enemies aside, you can make overrun attempts as part of the charge?
Next Big Thing seems like too much of a magical effect for a clearly nonmagical concept.
Thunder clap: A 8th level spell effect multiple times a day at 12th is a bit much. you could probably lose this altogether.
Force field: Isn't that basically a slightly different version of freedom of movement? Also, again, highly magical effect for a supposedly nonmagical class.
Stay on the path is just... wierd to me.
Mental drill is cool, but I would recommend making it so they can pass through it with a successful save, not break the effect.
Permanent iron body is just ridiculous. Maybe use it a few times a day?
__________________ My Homebrew
Five-time champion of the GITP monster competition!
UPDATE:
* Changed the saves, don't know if will is good
* Mental Drinn doesn't break spells but lets you pass through them
* Replaced Force Field with Walking Stronghold
* Removed Next Big Thing and Stay on path, former may retur if I think how make it more climatic.
* Thunder Clap doesn't cause Greater Shout but normal Shout
* Got ya! may be used outside charge and deals the "weapon" wull damage
* Moved natural Armor on 2nd leve
* Dragged Used To Armor in time, now removes speed penalty for medium armor on 1st and heavy armor on 5th level and removes 1 from AC penalty on level 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.
* Unbreakable War Machine can you grant Iron Body but not make it permanent.
* Enemy Tossed Charge renamed Foe Tossing Charge and moved one level below.
Quote:
One thing I'd like to suggest is making this a PRC for dungeoncrasher fighter., from dungeonscape.
Who? Can you provide any data on this guy?
Also, going through your suggestions now, I'll try to fix Foe Tossing Charge and Wallbreaker next, once I'll check things out and see how can I fix them.
UPDATE:
Next Big Thing returns now in different form - instead of enlarging him it now makes him treated as enlargerd when fighting bigger opponents. I probably should change the name to "Somebody Your Own Size" or "big Sexy Killer Of The Giant".
For Unbreakable War Machine, I think that you should either give a set time for how long the Iron Body effect lasts or include a line along the lines of, "He can use Iron Body on himself twice per day, at a caster level equal to his class level" so it's easier to tell how long each use of this ability lasts. The way it is now, there's no reason why the juggernaut wouldn't use this ability on himself first thing in the morning since it apparently lasts forever.
For Unbreakable War Machine, I think that you should either give a set time for how long the Iron Body effect lasts or include a line along the lines of, "He can use Iron Body on himself twice per day, at a caster level equal to his class level" so it's easier to tell how long each use of this ability lasts. The way it is now, there's no reason why the juggernaut wouldn't use this ability on himself first thing in the morning since it apparently lasts forever.
Right, I'll fix it immiediately.
UPDATE:
Set a time limit on Unbreakable War Machine, would like somebody to tell me if wording doesn't make it soud like gibberish.
UPDATE:
Changed alking Stronghold to grant Fortitude save always, not only when Juggernaut is walking, I realized that the way it was it would be generally pretty useless.
Stealing this class for my campaign setting for my Narzal. Awesome job man. I like it.
Thanks lot. If you'll happen to use it in a game in your setting, don't forget to tell me how it was and if you haven't found any balance issues that needs fixing.
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Orcish Juggernaut [3.5 Prestige Class][Peach please]
