Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Robert rath 11-15-03, 07:56 AM	The Brawler Written By: Robert L. Rath (Dungeon_Master19@hotmail.com) In taverns, on the streets, or just sitting in their houses, brawlers can be a great threat to anyone who underestimates their abilities. Using unorthodox methods of unarmed combat and pure brute strength, the brawler is force to be reckoned with. Brawlers live and die by the power in their bodies and also the great strength of their minds. Brawlers are pure athletes and very skilled fighters, relying on grappling and power over great reach. The brawler is an excellent class for those who like unarmed fighters, but do not like the restrictions and difficulty of playing a brawler character. Though brawlers lack the defence of the brawler class, the brawler makes up for it with unmatchable toughness, dirty fighting, and outstanding grappling ability. Brawlers are offensive machines and are very dangerous when within a creatures reach. Adventures: Adventuring can appeal to a brawler simply for the challenge to prove they are toughest fighters in the world. Tough and disciplined, the brawler will go to any length to win a fight. Most brawlers start adventuring as hired mercenaries or just travelling from one tavern to the next to hone their skills. Many venture long distances to enter fighting tournaments or gladiatorial battles. Their thirst for battle will be quenched, no matter the distance and no matter the danger. Characteristics: Brawlers are very competitive and above all else love to fight, however, they enjoy any type of competitive activities suck as wrestling or sprinting. They also enjoy conquering great feats of strength or stamina. A brawler will never back down from a fight, no matter the odds. They live their lives by two main philosophies, first, practice makes perfect and second, you win some you lose some. Brawlers can be very patient fighters, but normally lack patience when it comes to diplomatic issues. Their brash attitude hinders their ability to reason or be tolerated by for an extended period of time. Their competitive spirit and relentless pursuit of greatness is what separates a brawler from other fighters. Religion: Brawlers are not normally religious people. They prefer to spend their time practicing more than praying. Some brawlers will worship gods of strength, other will worship gods of stealth. Brawlers have great respect most clerics due to their dedication to their religion. Brawlers also like the company of clerics because of their healing abilities. Background: The brawler has been around since the beginning of humanoid life. Long before man wielded his first blade and before the wizard cast his first spell, there where brawlers. Brawlers have branched off into other types of unarmed warriors throughout the years. Some, with great discipline branched off and became brawlers and martial artists. Others, saw the appeal of blades and bows and forgot their roots of unarmed combat. The few brawlers that remain in this day are much respected by their own kind and by all other unarmed combatants. Devoting all of their time to gaining strength and toughing their bodies. Brawlers have survived in past, and as long as humanoids still have a will to fight, the brawler in them all will still remain. Races: At one time or another, every race has had a brawler or two amongst their ranks. Humans, half-elves and half-orcs are the most common brawlers, due to humans and half-elves diverse ways of life and the half-orcs love of bullying others. Elves can be brawlers, but do not normally fit the mentality of a brawler because of their training with blades and bows in their younger years and snobby and sophisticated attitudes. Gnomes and halflings do not normally become brawlers because their size and lack of strength limits their ability in combat. Game Rule Information Brawlers have the following game statistics: Abilities: Brawlers live and die by toughness making constitution their most important stat. Dexterity and Wisdom are both equally as important due to the brawler’s ability to use his wisdom modifier onto his armour class. Charisma can be important for some of the brawler’s skills as well as his ability to intimidate opponents. Intelligence is a brawler’s least important ability because he does not need too many skill points and very few of his skills require intelligence. Alignment: Any non-lawful- brawlers will do anything to win a fight, including fighting dirty and breaking some laws, meaning they could not retain a lawful alignment. Hit Die: 1d12 Class Skills: The Brawlers class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are; Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Innuendo (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Fighting Styles) (Int), Perform (Cha), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex) See Chapter 4 in the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions. Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int Modifier) X 4 Skill Points at each additional Level: 4 + Int modifier Class Features All of the following are class features of the brawler Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A brawler is proficient with a dagger, punching dagger, sai, sap, stump knife and with no armour or shields. Like monks, the brawler has a natural “sixth sense” that lets them avoid blows. Therefore a brawler may add their wisdom modifier in addition to their dexterity modifier. The brawler also maintains their wisdom modifier even if caught flat footed, however, if the brawler wears any type of armour, they loose this supernatural ability. Note that wearing armour heavier than leather imposes a penalty to the ranger skills Climb, Hide, Jump, and Move Silently. Swim checks also suffer a –1 penalty for every 5 lbs. of armour or equipment carried. Unarmed Strike: Brawlers are experts of unarmed combat, giving them the edge over most classes when fighting unarmed. They deal more damage when using their unarmed strike than other classes (see table below), the brawlers also gains the Improved Unarmed Strike feat which means that they do not provoke an attack of opportunity when attacking unarmed. A brawler may use any part of his body to strike an opponent including their elbows, feet, or even a headbutt. The unarmed damage on the table below is for medium sized brawlers. See your follow Table 3-11 in the Player’s Handbook for rules concerning small brawlers. Evasion: At 1st level A brawler can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If a brawler makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save (such as a red dragon’s fiery breath or a fireball spell), the brawler instead takes no damage. Evasion can only be used if the brawler is wearing light armour or no armour. It is an extraordinary ability. Improved Wrestling: At 2nd level the brawler gains a +4 circumstance bonus when attempting to grapple an opponent or to prevent from being grappled. Undying: Because of the brawlers special training and ability to resist pain, at 2nd level the brawler is able to ignore pain and damage when at death’s door. With this ability the brawler is able to act normally when disabled. When dying, the brawler has a 15% chance per round of spontaneously stabilizing and others gain a +4 bonus on rolls to stabilize a brawler. Dirty Fighting: At 4th level, the brawler’s training allows him to know the brutal and effective fighting tactics of the streets and back alleys. When performing a full attack action, the brawler can give up their regular attacks and instead make a single attack. If this attack hits, the brawler deals an additional +1d4 points of damage. Throw Anything: At 6th level anything becomes a dangerous ranged weapon when in the hands of a brawler. This ability allows the brawler to throw any weapon, regardless of whether it is intended to be used as a ranged weapon. The range increment of weapons used in conjunction with this feat is 10 feet. Fast Movement: At 7th level the brawler has a speed faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet when wearing no armour (and not carrying a heavy load). For example, a human brawler has a standard speed of 40 feet. Normally, humans have a speed of 30 feet. His speed when taking the double move action is 80 feet (rather than 60), and his running speed is 160 feet (rather than 120). Tough as Nails: At 8th level, the brawler’s body is so tough it can break lesser weapons that are used to attack him. When a weapon strikes the body of a brawler, the weapon takes damage equal to half the damage it inflicts after it damages the brawler. (Note: Weapon's hardness still applies to damage) Improved Evasion: At 9th level, a brawler’s evasion ability improves. The brawler still takes no damage on a successful Reflex save and only suffers half damage if the save is unsuccessful. Ki Strike: At 10th level, a brawler’s unarmed attack is empowered with ki. The unarmed strike damage from such an attack can deal damage to a creature with damage reduction, such as a wight, as if the blow were made with a weapon with a +1 enhancement bonus. Ki strike improves as the brawler gains experience, allowing thier unarmed strike at 13th level to deal damage against creatures with damage reduction as if it were made with a weapon with a +2 enhancement bonus, and at 16th level to deal damage against creatures with damage reduction as if it were made with a weapon with a +3 enhancement bonus. Ki strike is a supernatural ability. Damage Reduction: Starting at 11th level, the brawler gains the extraordinary ability to shrug off some amount of injury from each blow or attack. Subtract 1 from the damage the brawler takes each time he is dealt damage. At 14th level, this damage reduction rises to 2. At 17th, it rises to 3. At 20th, it rises to 4. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0. Table The Brawler Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1 +1 +2 +2 +2 Unarmed Strike 2 +2 +3 +3 +3 Improved Grapple, Undying 3 +3 +3 +3 +3 Evaison 4 +4 +4 +4 +4 Dirty Fighting 5 +5 +4 +4 +4 6 +6/+1 +5 +5 +5 Throw Anything 7 +7/+2 +5 +5 +5 Fast Movement 8 +8/+3 +6 +6 +6 Tough as Nails 9 +9/+4 +6 +6 +6 Improved Evasion 10 +10/+5 +7 +7 +7 Ki Strike (+1) 11 +11/+6/+1 +7 +7 +7 Damage Reduction 1/- 12 +12/+7/+2 +8 +8 +8 13 +13/+8/+3 +8 +8 +8 Ki Strike (+2) 14 +14/+9/+4 +9 +9 +9 Damage Reduction 2/- 15 +15/+10/+5 +9 +9 +9 16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +10 +10 Ki Strike (+3) 17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +10 +10 Damage Reduction 3/- 18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +11 +11 19 +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +11 +11 20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +12 +12 Damage Reduction 4/- Level Unarmed AB Unarmed Damage AC Bonus 1 +0 1d4 +0 2 +1 1d4 +0 3 +2 1d4 +0 4 +3 1d4 +0 5 +3 1d4 +1 6 +4/+1 1d6 +1 7 +5/+2 1d6 +1 8 +6/+3 1d6 +1 9 +6/+3 1d6 +1 10 +7/+4/+1 1d6 +2 11 +8/+5/+2 1d8 +2 12 +9/+6/+3 1d8 +2 13 +9/+6/+3 1d8 +2 14 +10/+7/+4/+1 1d8 +2 15 +11/+8/+5/+2 1d8 +3 16 +12/+9/+6/+3 1d10 +3 17 +12/+9/+6/+3 1d10 +3 18 +13/+10/+7/+4/+1 1d10 +3 19 +14/+11/+8/+5/+2 1d10 +3 20 +15/+12/+9/+6/+3 1d10 +4
Tenzhi 11-15-03, 09:02 AM	Wow. That seems a little bit overpowered. To start with, I'd give them the lower Will save. And there's really no reason to have two BAB progressions - the Cleric progression is fine for armed and unarmed.