Saturday, June 20, 2009

3.75 Update: Ronin


In most cases, I won't be updating Prestige Classes; part of the point of 3.75 was to make the base classes worth taking to level 20, so amping up Prestige Classes just promotes power creep. However, the Ronin is a special case because of his link to the Samurai.

Role: The Ronin is a warrior who has forsaken his code of honor, and fights for himself. He is thus classes as a Striker.
Abilities: The Ronin values Strength to aid him in melee combat. His own rage, represented through his Charisma score, is also important to the Ronin.
Hit Die: d10


BECOMING A RONIN
Alignment:
Any non-lawful
Feats: Weapon Focus (any melee weapon), Any 1 additional Combat feat.
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Special: If the character possesses any levels in a class that requires a Code of Conduct, he must have committed a breach of at least one such code. Otherwise, he must have either committed an action or been born into a situation in which he has been cast out from a particular group.

Class Skills: Bluff, Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (History, Nobility, and Religion only), Linguistics, Perception, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Stealth, Survival, Swim
Skill Points Per Level: 4+INT
Base Attack Bonus: Full (as Fighter)
Good Save: Fortitude
Bad Saves: Reflex, Will
Weapons and Armor Proficiency: A Ronin is proficient with all simple and martial weapons. He gains no other new proficiencies.

Class Features
1-Infamy, Sneak Attack +1d6, Fury (Bloodlust)
-Infamy (Ex):
A Ronin is, for better of for worse, marked as an Outcast. When dealing with an NPC member of the organization that has cast him out, that NPC's default attitude regarding him is automatically one category lower. In addition, the DCs of all Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks made to influence that NPC out of combat are doubled. Infamy does not affect attempts to demoralize in combat. Furthermore, the organization he has been cast out of will watch the Ronin actively if he enters their sphere of influence (as determined by the DM). Certain individuals or organizations may sympathize with the Ronin (usually opponents to the organization that has cast him out), and the DM may choose to grant a +4 bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks to the Ronin when dealing with such individuals outside of combat.
-Sneak Attack (Ex): For a Ronin, fights are rarely fair on the side of his foes, and he adapts his style accordingly. Whenever a Ronin hits an opponent who is flanked (whether by the Ronin or not) or who is denied their Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, he deals an additional 1d6 damage. Sneak Attack is a precision attack and therefore is only functional if the Ronin can aim his blows properly and thus any attacks must be made within 30 feet of his target. Likewise, any foe that does not possess weak spots (such as those immune to critical hits) is immune to Sneak Attack. When attacing a foe with Uncanny Dodge, use the Ronin's class level as his effective Rogue level. If the Ronin already has sneak attack, the bonus damage stacks. A Ronin gains an additional d6 of Sneak Attack every 3 levels (1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th).
-Fury: The Ronin is either a defiler of justice or a victim of it. As such, he has a deep-seated rage that brews within him that he may release when he sees fit. This well of anger is represented in game with a pool of points called Fury. A Ronin has a number of Fury points available each day equal to his class level plus his Charisma modifier. He may spend these points using abilities he gains as he progresses.
-Bloodlust (Ex): As long as he as least one point in his Fury pool, a Ronin's barely-suppresed rage lends him a willingness to fight, adding half his class level (minimum +1) to Initiative checks.
2-Bonsai Charge
-Bonsai Charge (Ex):
A Ronin's fury can lead him toward a battlefield presence that is both reckless and relentless. Whenever a Ronin charges, he may take a penalty to his armor class up to his class level, including the normal -2 penalty for charging. If his attack (or attacks, if he possesses the ability to make multiple attacks after a charge) hits, he deals an amount of bonus damage per hit equal to the penalty he has accepted. A Ronin cannot take a penalty that is less severe than -2 using this ability. This bonus damage and AC penalty remain in effect until the beginning of the Ronin's next turn. Using a Bonsai Charge does not cost Fury, but a Ronin cannot use a Bonsai charge unless he has at least 1 point available in his Fury pool.
3-Furious Attack
-Furious Attack (Su):
At level 3, a Ronin may channel his fury into a melee attack. Declaring a Furious Attack is a free action performed as part of an attack roll. A Furious attack may be made only once per round and costs 1 point from the Ronin's Fury pool. If a Furious attack hits,the Ronin deals +1d6 fire damage per two class levels. In addition, a Furious attack overcomes any Damage Reduction the foe might possess.
4-Sneak Attack +2d6
5-Bonus Feat
, Fury (Vendetta)
Bonus Feat: A Ronin's combat style improves constantly. He may choose a bonus Combat Feat at levels 5 and 9. He must meet all prerequisites for that feat.
-Vendetta (Su): A Ronin reacts violently to thus who have acted violently against him. Whenever a foe deals a Ronin hit point damage, he gains a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls against that opponent until the end of the Ronin's next turn. This ability only functions if the Ronin has at least 1 point available in his Fury pool.

6-Filled With Fury
-Filled With Fury (Su):
Upon reaching level 6, a Ronin can let his Fury overcome him. Becoming Filled With Fury is a Swift action that costs 1 point of Fury. He may then maintain this state as a free action for the cost of 1 point of Fury each round. While Filled With Fury, a Ronin gains a +2 bonus to his Strength and Constitution scores and may make one additional attack as part of a full attack. Being Filled With Fury interferes with his thought processes, and a Ronin in such a state is under all the limitation of a Barbarian in a state of Rage. In addition, a Ronin's Fury must have a target; he automatically drops out of this state at the end of a round in which he made no attack rolls. When a Ronin ceases to be Filled With Fury, he is fatigued for one minute. If a Ronin falls unconscious (including sleep or death) while Filled With Fury, the state ends immediately. A Ronin cannot become Filled With Fury while fatigued.
7-Sneak Attack +3d6
8-Fell The Weak
Fell the Weak (Su):
A Ronin knows that, when faced with multiple foes, it is often better to kill one than to wound several. As such, a Ronin becomes keenly aware of which foes are close to death and becomes skilled at dispatching them. As a swift action, a Ronin may assess the health of a foe within 30 feet. All this assessment tells him is whether the foe he is assessing has hit points below one-quarter total (as a yes or no question. This ability does not tell the Ronin the foe's hit point total or any other information).
Whether or not a foe has been assessed, a Ronin may attempt to kill a weakened foe. He spend 1 extra Fury on a Furious Attack against a foe he believes to posses one-quarter or less of their normal hit point total. If the attack hits and the foe has the required amount of hit points, the attack does double damage. If the attack was a Sneak Attack or had any other variable damage amounts, these abilities are also doubled. If the foe possessed too many hit points, the attack deals damage as a normal Furious Attack. If the attack misses, the Fury is lost to no effect.
9-Bonus Feat, Fury (Scorn)
-Scorn (Su): A Ronin's fury lets him ignore lesser blows. Whenever a Ronin of level 9 or higher is dealt damage of any kind that is equal to or less than the amount of Fury left in his pool, that damage is negated.
10-Sneak Attack +4d6, Killing Strike
-Killing Strike (Su):
A Ronin understands that sometimes a foe must be felled before they are a threat. At level ten, he can exercise deadly precision as none other. When he make a Furious Attack that qualifies for Sneak Attack damage, he may spend 2 extra points of Fury to attempt a Killing Strike. If he does so and the attack hits, all damage dice in the attack (including Furious Attack, Sneak Attack, the weapon's die, and additional enhancements on the weapon) are maximized. If Ronin is attempting to Fell the Weak, all damage is maximized and then doubled.

Ex-Ronin
Should a Ronin become Lawful, his Fury is subdued. His Fury pool empties and cannot refill until he ceases to be Lawful.

Ronin and Ex-Samurai
The Ronin and the Samurai are classes that are permanently linked. If a disgraced Samurai gains a level in Ronin, he may treat his Fury pool as it were a Kiai pool. However, Fury is distinctly different from Kiai; any time a Kiai ability being fueled by Fury would reference the Ronin's Wisdom, it references his Charisma instead.
Becoming a Ronin has an added effect for Ex-Samurai; to take up the mantle of the Ronin is to formally reject his status as a Samurai. Once an Ex-Samurai has taken a level of Ronin, he can never again gain another level of Samurai, and can never again atone for his actions.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Just one note on this prestige class: Bonsai is the art of tending miniature trees. Banzai is the word I'm fairly certain you were looking for when you wrote the Bonsai Charge class feature...