Homemade Character Class: Dreadnaught

[Fax Celestis]

The Dreadnaught class is a warrior separate from both the fighter and the barbarian. Where the fighter enters combat with style and tactics and the barbarian enters in fury, the dreadnaught wades in swinging, soaking blows and fearing little.

Abilities: Constitution is your prime statistic, boosting your already immense amount of hit points. Strength will help you end combats quicker, and Dexterity will help you dodge and give you access to feats that may make your life easier. Probably least important is Charisma: nobody likes a brawler.

Races: Dwarves and half-orcs are the most common among dreadnaughts, though there are some human and half-elven ones. Perhaps the most rare are elven and halfing dreadnaughts, though they are certainly not unheard of.

Alignment: Dreadnaughts, though they can be of any alignment, tend towards chaos.

Hit Die: d12

Starting Gold : 3d4x10 gp.

Starting Age : As fighter (PH 109).
Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dreadnaughts are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. They are also proficient with all kinds of armor and all shields.

Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level, x4 at 1st level): Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Ride

Power Attack : At 1st level, the dreadnaught gains the use of the Power Attack feat.

Cleave : At 2nd level, the dreadnaught gains the Cleave feat.

Rugged : At 3rd level, the dreadnaught gains +3 hit points. This ability increases by three points every three levels (+6 hit points at 6th level, +9 points at 9th level, etc., up to +18 at 18th level). These bonuses replace, not stack with, each other.

Endurance: At 5th level, the dreadnaught gains the Endurance feat.

Great Cleave : At 6th level, the dreadnaught gains the Great Cleave feat.

Damage Reduction : At 7th level, the dreadnaught gains Damage Reduction 1/-. Every four levels thereafter (11th, 15th, and 19th), the dreadnaught's damage reduction increases by one.

Diehard: At 10th level, the dreadnaught gains the Diehard feat.

Supreme Toughness: Starting at 14th level, if the dreadnaught makes a successful Fortitude saving throw against an attack or effect which normally deals half damage or only has a partial effect on a successful save, he instead takes no damage and is not affected by the spell.

Supreme Cleave: At 20th level, the dreadnaught may take a five-foot step before attempting a cleave.

Religion
Most dreadnaughts worship Kord, Heironeous, or St. Cuthbert. Evil aligned dreadnaughts (of which there are a few) worship Nerull almost as a whole.

Other Classes
Barbarians and fighters get along with dreadnaughts the best, while wizards, clerics, and sorcerors tend to not deal with dreadnaughts. Rogues and rangers find them lacking in finesse, but bards like them as they make good stories.

Combat
Wade in, swing away, and draw fire off of your compatriots. You can take the abuse.

Dreadnaught Progression
{table]
[tr][td]Level[/td] [td]Base Attack Bonus[/td] [td]Fort Save[/td] [td]Ref Save[/td] [td]Will Save[/td] [td]Special[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]1st[/td] [td]+1[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]+0[/td] [td]+0[/td] [td]Power Attack[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]2nd[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]+0[/td] [td]+0[/td] [td]Cleave[/td][/tr]

[tr] [td]3rd[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]+1[/td] [td]+1[/td] [td]Rugged +3[/td][/tr]

[tr] [td]4th[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]+1[/td] [td]+1[/td] [td]- [/td][/tr]

[tr][td]5th[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]+1[/td] [td]+1[/td] [td]Endurance[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]6th[/td] [td]+6/+1[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]Great Cleave, Rugged +6[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]7th[/td] [td]+7/+2[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]Damage Reduction 1/-[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]8th[/td] [td]+8/+3[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]+2[/td] [td]-[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]9th[/td] [td]+9/+4[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]Rugged +9[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]10th[/td] [td]+10/+5[/td] [td]+7[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]Diehard[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]11th[/td] [td]+11/+6/+1[/td] [td]+7[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]+3[/td] [td]Damage Reduction 2/-[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]12th[/td] [td]+12/+7/+2[/td] [td]+8[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]Rugged +12[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]13th[/td] [td]+13/+8/+3[/td] [td]+8[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]- [/td][/tr]

[tr][td]14th[/td] [td]+14/+9/+4[/td] [td]+9[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]+4[/td] [td]Supreme Toughness[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]15th[/td] [td]+15/+10/+5[/td] [td]+9[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]Damage Reduction 3/-, Rugged +15[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]16th[/td] [td]+16/+11/+6/+1[/td] [td]+10[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]- [/td][/tr]

[tr][td]17th[/td] [td]+17/+12/+7/+2[/td] [td]+10[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]+5[/td] [td]-[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]18th[/td] [td]+18/+13/+8/+3[/td] [td]+11[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]Rugged +18[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]19th[/td] [td]+19/+14/+9/+4[/td] [td]+11[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]Damage Reduction 4/-[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]20th[/td] [td]+20/+15/+10/+5[/td] [td]+12[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]+6[/td] [td]Supreme Cleave[/td][/tr][/table]

[Two_the_Druid]

I really like it. It seems fairly balanced. I think I might submit it to my DM and ask him if I can play it

[AmoDman]

I'd take it. I wish there was a class like it, but I'm not sure how balanced the HP thing is...that's a LOT of extra HP. Unless you meant to say each new gain on the "scale" negates the old bonus. That'd be mroe balanced, I think.

[Rigeld2]

How could you possibly think this is a balanced class? Unless im missing something, d12 hd, DR, bonus feats, class abilities that are feats, free extra hit points, and a super fort save...

Fighters will be non existant, and Barbarians would be close.

[AmoDman]

How could you possibly think this is a balanced class? Unless im missing something, d12 hd, DR, bonus feats, class abilities that are feats, free extra hit points, and a super fort save...

Fighters will be non existant, and Barbarians would be close.

I already said the bonus HP is too much, though perhaps you are right about the hit die as well. It's pretty much what the Fighter should be, so perhaps a D10.

[Fax Celestis]

That's the one problem I can see with it, and I created it. A level 16 dreadnaught, like this (without replacements, that is) has about 290+ HP. A tad large. But all that means is he's got to get hit a few times with big spells or somesuch.

I could also change the DR to */magic instead of */- to weaken it.

[Amiria]

It's too powerful. He only has 1 bonus feat less than a fighter:

Dreadnought: Power Attack, Cleave, Great Cleave + 7 = 10

Fighter: 11

------

And on top of that he has a better hit die and all the toughness stuff and damage reduction. That's simply too much.

I would give him no bonus feats at all (apart from the Great Cleave tree) to balance it.

[AmoDman]

That's the one problem I can see with it, and I created it. A level 16 dreadnaught, like this (without replacements, that is) has about 290+ HP. A tad large. But all that means is he's got to get hit a few times with big spells or somesuch.

I could also change the DR to */magic instead of */- to weaken it.

Naw. Barb and every other DR offering class (usually PrC) gets Dr/-. That part's fine IMO.

edit: Like I said, lower the hit die, and modify the HP bonuses. At least, that's what I'd do.

[Roland St. Jude]

I agree this is way off balance. I'd recommend one of two things. Either lose all the bonus feats (making him an HP monster with limited combat tricks up his sleeve) or reduce the bonus feats slightly* and the HP bonuses significantly (making him a tougher, but slightly less versatile, version of the fighter).

*Maybe 1 per 5 levels (5, 10, 15, 20)?

Either one of those seems closer to balanced but with the flavor of a dreadnought. It would be a class worth taking for someone who wants to be able to wade in to battle, but would leave a role for a Barbarian or Fighter.

[Fax Celestis]

*edits*

How's it look now?

[AmoDman]

*edits*

How's it look now?

Pretty darn decent. I see you went the remove all bonus feats route, *shrugs* (of course, leaving the pre-picked bonus ones, so that should be good), that should balance the HP bonuses fairly well I guess...See what others have to say. I would've just toned the bonuses down and made the bonus feats less sporadic, but I guess the other way seperates him more from the fighter. I just wish the fighter was, well, a better fighter sometimes...with less bonus feats and more, well, bonuses.

[Fax Celestis]

Nothing says I can't swap it as a different class, though. But you're right, this character class is supposed to be a tank, not a fighter.

Although this class cross-classed with a Knight would be cool.

[Raum]

It looks pretty good now, just one thing you might want to reconsider. The Supreme Toughness ability at 18th level allows him to add his class level to his Fort saves. Frankly I dislike the mechanic. I doubt it's severely overpowering because he'll seldom fail Fort saves anyway, but I can't think of any similar abilities. I'd recommend an ability similar to a hexblade's Mettle instead. He'll get more use out of it and it follows mechanics used by other classes.

[Fax Celestis]

Might be a good idea, though I don't have that book handy.

[Raum]

It's similar to evasion but for Fort saves if I remember correctly. Afraid I don't have the book in front of me either. :-/

[LooseCannon]

My suggestion? I realize he's supposed to be a tank, but try dropping out the heavy armour proficiency. I don't think he needs it, and it allows for more balance. Less AC, more HP.

[AmoDman]

My suggestion? I realize he's supposed to be a tank, but try dropping out the heavy armour proficiency. I don't think he needs it, and it allows for more balance. Less AC, more HP.

Why? The name and flavor practically screams heavy armor beefy boy IMO, though he could use other. It's not unbalancing anything I don't think...as for Mettle, It basically is evasion for Fort and Will. If a spell or somesuch would normall say Fort or Will "Half" or "Some sort of result anyway," then Mettle negates that as well upon a successful save.

[Borax]

I have to say i like this class. i think ill use this to revamp my 3.0 epic barbarian 24/fighter 20 to a 3.5 barbarian 20/dreadnaught 20/fighter 4. this is going to be nuts! ;D ;D

[Traveling_Angel]

Esentialy a base +32 to fortuide?

and you also just made gesalting heaven.

[SilveryCord]

Just out of curiousity, is this at all inspired by the Legendary Dreadnought? If so, it'd be pretty funny to take 23 levels of Dreadnought and then 10 of Legendary Dreadnought :)

[Overlord]

I like the flavor, and the idea is very good. However, the abilities need a bit of clarification and adjusting.

First, I think that the fortitude bonus from Supreme Toughness should indeed be switched to Mettle.

Second, do the X's toughness abilities stack with Rugged? It looks like they don't at first, but the hit points gained from the toughness abilities are identical to the hit points gained from Rugged at the level they are first acheived. So, are the three hit points from Bear's Toughness in addition to the three a dreadnought would gain from Rugged?

Third, are the X's Toughness abilities cumulative? Are the six hit points from Dwarf's Toughness cumulative with the three from Bear's Toughness?

[Fax Celestis]

The toughnesses don't stack with each other, but do stack with Rugged. I suppose I should clarify that.

And it was indeed inspired by the Legendary Dreadnaught.

[AmoDman]

The toughnesses don't stack with each other, but do stack with Rugged. I suppose I should clarify that.

And it was indeed inspired by the Legendary Dreadnaught.

The standard way of wording the way the toghnesses work, then, is by saying that the hp bonus received by [insert toughness] replaces the hp bonus gained by any previous toughness ability, though the toughness hp bonus does stack with hp bonus gaines from the rugged special ability. That addendum, essentially, goes into the description of each toughness ability (minus the first, though it could not stacking with rugged), and voila, the class makes more sense.

[TheDarkOne]

Personally I'd say, if you want it to be a tank, I'd drop the power attack/Cleave chain, and replace it with either a good will save or an ability like the swashbucklers grace ability that gives the character a bonus to will saves.

Also, you don't need to have toughness abilities named differently. Just have one class feature and in the description say how it increases with each level.

You might also want a big ability at 20th, to make it worth it staying in the class. This would likely involve redistributing the other class abilities.

[Fax Celestis]

Check now. Changed the Toughnesses, did a little thing to the Supreme Toughness.

[TheDarkOne]

Check now. Changed the Toughnesses, did a little thing to the Supreme Toughness.

See my post, this is the way you'd do it if it were a chain of feats. For class features that do the same thing just with a higher number, you give them all the same name.

so it might read

"*Something* Toughness: At 3rd level the Dreadnaught gets +3 hp. At 6th level this increases to +6. ect."

there's really no reason to have different names.

[Raum]

Supreme Toughness : At 18th level, the dreadnaught gains +18 hit points. This ability replaces Dragon's Toughness. In addition, if a spell or effect would be reduced to half or no damage by a successful reflex or will save, he may instead make a fortitude save for the same effect.

This is a bit much. It basically gives the class all good saves since there are very few effects where this won't apply.

I'd recommend something similar to the following:
[list]If he makes a successful Fortitude saving throw against an attack or effect which normally deals half damage or only has a partial effect on a successful save, he instead takes no damage and is not affected by the spell.[/list

[Maerok]

Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave don't really seem to fit into a class devoted to defenses (extra HP, DR, etc.).

[AmoDman]

Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave don't really seem to fit into a class devoted to defenses (extra HP, DR, etc.).

Ummm...It's not devoted to defenses. It's devoted to being a Dreadnaught that is able to wade his bad ass into the midst of battle taking all the damage in the world while cleaving and crushing the weaklings around him...

[Raum]

My suggestion? I realize he's supposed to be a tank, but try dropping out the heavy armour proficiency. I don't think he needs it, and it allows for more balance. Less AC, more HP.

I kind of agree with you but I'd recommend dropping the shield profiency instead of the heavy armor. A true dreadnaught would disdain shields after all! :)