[3.5e NPC PrC] The Bartender (PEACH)

[Welknair]

The Bartender

Information? Yeah, I might have something. You need to buy a drink first, though.

-Jorg, Bartender

The world is full of taverns, inns, and pubs. And everyone knows that heading such an establishment is always the Bartender. He hears things and manages not to get hit from stray Fireballs, mostly. But he is there. This, my friend, is his story. Or his statblock.

Becoming a Bartender
Well... it's a profession. Likely the joint has been owned by the family for generations. Less likely, though still possible, is that you founded the establishment yourself. Whatever the means, you have chosen that your life's calling is to evade rabid PCs while serving cooling beverages.

Entry Requirements
Skills: Profession (Bartender) 6, Listen 2, Knowledge (Local) 1
Special: Must tend a Bar, Inn, Tavern, or similar establishment.

Skill points at each level: 4 + Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Knowledge (Local), Profession, Listen, Spot, Sense motive

Hit Die: d8

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1st	+0	+2	+2	+0	Uncanny Dodge
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+0	A Little Bird Told Me
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+1	Evasion
4th	+3	+4	+4	+1	Seen it All
5th	+3	+4	+4	+1	Indomitable

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Bartender is proficient with all simple weapons, one martial weapon of their choice, and has improvised weapon proficiency with bar implements such as mugs, bottles, and chairs.

Uncanny Dodge: Barfights can often come out of nowhere. One must be prepared for such occurrences. Dodging a beer mug that flew outta nowhere is standard fare for a Bartender. As the Rogue ability of the same name.

A Little Bird Told Me: At 2nd level, a Bartender gains the ability to know relevant information just as a Bard does. This ability functions exactly like Bardic Knowledge, save for the modifier to the check is the Twice the Bartender's Bartender Level plus his Wisdom modifier.

Evasion: Bars are home to PCs. PC parties are home to Wizards. Wizards like casting spells such as Fireball. Fireballs hurt. Getting out of the way is usually a good idea. As the Rogue ability of the same name.

Seen it All: After a few years in the business you get a bit jaded. After you've stared down a fifteenth level Minotaur Barbarian, not much scares you. You can no longer be Intimidated and gain a +4 bonus to all Sense Motive checks and saves against Fear Effects and Enchantment.

Indomitable: Bartenders are tough to kill. They gotta be, or they don't last long. Once per day, they can simply not die. When they would otherwise be reduced to -10 or below, they can (And really should) activate this ability to instead drop to -9 and be immediately stabilized. This ability can instead be used to automatically succeed on one save versus a Death Effect.


I heard someone wanted more NPC PrCs?

[Morph Bark]

Really nice PrC, awesome. I'd lower the prerequisites a tiny bit and add Gather Information to the skill list.

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Morph Bark

Really nice PrC, awesome. I'd lower the prerequisites a tiny bit and add Gather Information to the skill list.

Good call. Just realized how skill point intensive the requirements are. Changing it now.

[Mulletmanalive]

Why do they have to own the bar? I've worked as a bartender a lot and I've not come close to owning one yet...

This also lacks the most powerful ability the bartender has; "So...what'll it be" the line that will end up with you hearing another life story...

[The Alien]

Pretty cool. I like it.

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Mulletmanalive

Why do they have to own the bar? I've worked as a bartender a lot and I've not come close to owning one yet...

This also lacks the most powerful ability the bartender has; "So...what'll it be" the line that will end up with you hearing another life story...

Changed it to "Must tend a..."

As for that... I can't decide if that should be a feature or simply the result of the other party consuming large quantities of alcohol. I try to keep the abilities to things that wouldn't usually be allowed by standard rules and I think that this would be. You don't have to be a Bartender to hear a drunk person going on about things that they really shouldn't be. Then again, there would be an amount of skill involved... But a Diplomacy check (Or perhaps Gather Information? Can that be used for questioning someone?) would likely cover it.

[Seerow]

Maybe another couple of skill points wouldn't go astray? Most NPCs don't have particularly great Int, and you require 3 different skills to enter, and don't even have the social skills you'd expect (such as gather information, bluff, or diplomacy). He doesn't need all of them, but I'd expect at least a couple, especially out of a class that is so obviously skill oriented. I'd also consider making the A Little Bird Told me bonus twice your Bartender level, just so he might occasionally actually succeed at a knowledge check that the PCs interracting with him would care about.

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Seerow

Maybe another couple of skill points wouldn't go astray? Most NPCs don't have particularly great Int, and you require 3 different skills to enter, and don't even have the social skills you'd expect (such as gather information, bluff, or diplomacy). He doesn't need all of them, but I'd expect at least a couple, especially out of a class that is so obviously skill oriented. I'd also consider making the A Little Bird Told me bonus twice your Bartender level, just so he might occasionally actually succeed at a knowledge check that the PCs interracting with him would care about.

Both changes made. I was trying to figure how to boost the ALBTM modifier to a reasonable level... I considered having it be Level+Listen but decided against it. Level*2 works pretty well. I also realized that they didn't have near enough skill points given how many they really need, as you pointed out.


I also have a whole slew of NPC PrCs that I'm getting ready to post... The Guard, Magic Item Dealer and Messenger. I'm also juggling around ideas for the Mage's Apprentice.

[ericgrau]

Hmm warrior 1 / bartender 5 / fighter X. Now 1/day I can't die :P.

Or... expert 1 / bartender 5 / bard 7 / loremaster X. 2 rerolls on your bardic knowledge. Btw metamagic feats don't have pre-reqs so you can start taking them at level 1 :P.

[Noremak]

Maybe "So what will it be?" should give a bonus to diplomacy checks? People are predisposed to trust and view the local bar tender in a more favorable light. +1 per class level to diplomacy checks.

Also perform(Bar Tending Flair) as a class skill for tips. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olkN0rLvmpI

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by ericgrau

Hmm warrior 1 / bartender 5 / fighter X. Now 1/day I can't die :P.

Or... expert 1 / bartender 5 / bard 7 / loremaster X. 2 rerolls on your bardic knowledge. Btw metamagic feats don't have pre-reqs so you can start taking them at level 1 :P.

If you ever gain any class features from any class that is not an NPC PrC you lose all class features from your NPC PrCs. Bonus feats count as class features.

[Thugorp]

First I love this class and can't wait to see the other N.P.C. Pr.C.s.

just a few comments, If you want the Bartender to loss all class abilities should he ever take a level of something other than a N.P.C. Pr.C., then you should probably say so in the class description and maybe include an Ex-Bartender section. Though honestly I don't like this idea because bar-tending is a profession not like a magical mumbojumbo... One question I wonder is do you loss all abilities even if you get class features from N.P.C. base classes?

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Thugorp

just a few comments, If you want the Bartender to loss all class abilities should he ever take a level of something other than a N.P.C. Pr.C., then you should probably say so in the class description and maybe include an Ex-Bartender section. Though honestly I don't like this idea because bar-tending is a profession not like a magical mumbojumbo... One question I wonder is do you loss all abilities even if you get class features from N.P.C. base classes?

Well the main idea was that these would be entirely off limits to heroes. These are the 'Normal People'. The class feature restriction can easily be disregarded. And as it is, don't you lose class features if you no longer qualify for the class itself? I think that might be true but I'm not sure. And mostly I'm too lazy to go through all of my NPC PrCs to add "Ex-____" sections and special notes saying that they do indeed lose their powers.

[averagejoe]

Originally Posted by Mulletmanalive

Why do they have to own the bar? I've worked as a bartender a lot and I've not come close to owning one yet...

This also lacks the most powerful ability the bartender has; "So...what'll it be" the line that will end up with you hearing another life story...

I think back in the day the bartender was usually the inn/tavern owner, but I'll admit to not having any real knowledge about that. Not saying the ability shouldn't be changed, but using modern day experience isn't always correct.

I feel like he should have the ability to flawlessly slide a cup across a countertop.

[Thugorp]

Then why does is say P.E.A.C.H. in the title? Don't get me wrong if you dissagreed with adding it I wouldn't have said this, but if you are just to, "lazy," to make a change then why bother asking for people to critique your work? :-P

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Thugorp

Then why does is say P.E.A.C.H. in the title? Don't get me wrong if you dissagreed with adding it I wouldn't have said this, but if you are just to, "lazy," to make a change then why bother asking for people to critique your work? :-P

Well, that's more of a preference issue than a balance issue...

And I do believe that by default if you no longer meet the entry requirements you no longer gain the benefits of the class.

[Thugorp]

fair I guess... ummm I feel a little silly saying it here, since I am literally just using Firefox's find function to find all of your classes to make sure I don't miss any of the awesomeness, but... I think this one needs weapon/armor proficiency.

[Welknair]

Yeah, I'll go through all of these and add proficiencies when I have a bit of time.

[Jjeinn-tae]

Make sure they get Improvised Weapon Proficiency in Mugs, Bottles, Barstools and similar bartending implements. I can't really personally see them being proficient in much else though, daggers maybe?

[Thugorp]

Daggers, clubs(or baseball/cricket bats), Cross-Bowes(the one he keeps under the bar), and 1 kind of sword(long or longer, the one hanging above the bar that he/his father/his grand father/great great grand... used to use on adventures as a young man/brought home from the war/used in the age before the city was built.) :-)

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Thugorp

Daggers, clubs(or baseball/cricket bats), Cross-Bowes(the one he keeps under the bar), and 1 kind of sword(long or longer, the one hanging above the bar that he/his father/his grand father/great great grand... used to use on adventures as a young man/brought home from the war/used in the age before the city was built.) :-)

I think Simple Weapon Proficiency along with proficiency with a single Martial Weapon of their choice should cover this. Add in "And with mugs, bottles, and chairs" and most of the Improvised weapons at their disposal should be covered as well.

[PoorHobo]

I can't imagine any campaign setting except maybe Ebberon where a bartender learns evasion before some sort of unarmed or improvised fighting skills.

Also immune to intimidate would make it a no-no in any campaign I ran. As other's have pointed out this is powerful enough to be a PC class

As far as weapon proficiencies, a sap. Killing your customers is bad for bussiness.

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by PoorHobo

I can't imagine any campaign setting except maybe Ebberon where a bartender learns evasion before some sort of unarmed or improvised fighting skills.

Also immune to intimidate would make it a no-no in any campaign I ran. As other's have pointed out this is powerful enough to be a PC class

As far as weapon proficiencies, a sap. Killing your customers is bad for bussiness.

Check the proficiencies. Bartenders can are proficient with all simple weapons and most common bar items.

[RaggedAngel]

Hm. I feel like you should either give them a good Will save, or stick something in there to help protect them from charm and domination; you'd think that after a while they'd build up a tolerance to bards, sorcerers, and wizards Charming them as a means to escape paying for room and board.

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by RaggedAngel

Hm. I feel like you should either give them a good Will save, or stick something in there to help protect them from charm and domination; you'd think that after a while they'd build up a tolerance to bards, sorcerers, and wizards Charming them as a means to escape paying for room and board.

Hmm. You actually have a point there. Wait, so we're saying that this is going to be an NPC class with all good saves? I know, I'll squeeze it into Seen it All.

[Debihuman]

It seems like you should say this:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Bartender is proficient with all simple weapons, martial weapons, and one improvised weapon of his or her choice: mug, bottle, or chair.

See here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/...martialWeapons
(if you look down the page there is a chart listing the martial weapons).

Don't forget --characters take a -4 penalty to attack with a weapon if they are not proficient with that weapon.

Debby

[Debihuman]

It seems like you should say this:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Bartender is proficient with all simple weapons, martial weapons, and one improvised weapon of his or her choice: mug, bottle, or chair.

See here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/...martialWeapons
(if you look down the page there is a chart listing the martial weapons).

Don't forget --characters take a -4 penalty to attack with a weapon if they are not proficient with that weapon.

Debby

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Debihuman

It seems like you should say this:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Bartender is proficient with all simple weapons, martial weapons, and one improvised weapon of his or her choice: mug, bottle, or chair.

See here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/...martialWeapons
(if you look down the page there is a chart listing the martial weapons).

Don't forget --characters take a -4 penalty to attack with a weapon if they are not proficient with that weapon.

Debby

Reworded it a bit. I don't believe that they should be proficient with all Martial weapons, however. It doesn't make a lot of sense as to why they would have training with all of those...

[Morph Bark]

Originally Posted by Welknair

Check the proficiencies. Bartenders can are proficient with all simple weapons and most common bar items.

The sap is a martial weapon.

[Welknair]

Originally Posted by Morph Bark

The sap is a martial weapon.

Well darn. I guess that they could choose that as the martial weapon which they are proficient with?