MY take on the General class from Fire Emblem [Archive] - Wizards Community

MY take on the General class from Fire Emblem [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lotus Crane
03-09-08, 09:24 PM What with 4th Edition being imminent, I thought it'd be fun to flashback to ideas I thought were interesting back when 3.x was all there was. Unfortunately, the original thread (http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-723112) for this, along with the feedback posted, was too old at the time of the server upgrade, so it was relegated to the dead archives.

I decided to submit my own version of this fan favorite. For those of you unfamiliar with the Fire Emblem series, the Knight->General class in those games are typically the slowest moving, but most well protected units (at least against physical attacks), with moderately high offense (reflected in this PrC by the giant weapons they're portrayed with in the games). However, the highest damage-dealers in those games are most likely Fighter->Berserker or Myrmidon->Swordmaster, which is why unlike Prime32's version of the General, I decline to give mine Improved or Supreme Power Attack, and also do not have Rage or Frenzy as one of the requirements.

GENERAL
Hit Die: d12.
Requirements
To qualify to become a general, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +7.
Feats: Endurance, Heavy Armor Optimization, Toughness (or at the DM's discretion, a comparable feat such as Azure Toughness, Improved Toughness, Incarnum-Fortified Body, or Psionic Body).
Skills: Craft 5 ranks, Knowledge (tactics and war) 5 ranks.

Class Skills
The general’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (tactics and war) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: The General
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Perfect defense 1/day, steadfast
2nd +2 +3 +0 +0 Damage reduction 1/–, improved endurance
3rd +3 +3 +1 +1 Bonus feat
4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Damage reduction 2/–, perfect defense 2/day
5th +5 +4 +1 +1 Enchained weapon
6th +6 +5 +2 +2 Bonus feat, damage reduction 3/–
7th +7 +5 +2 +2 Perfect defense 3/day
8th +8 +6 +2 +2 Damage reduction 4/–, Wield Oversized Weapon
9th +9 +6 +3 +3 Bonus feat
10th +10 +7 +3 +3 Damage reduction 5/–, perfect defense 4/day
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the general prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Generals gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Perfect Defense (Ex): A general is less a soldier than a walking fortress. Once per day as an immediate action, he can attain a state of near-invincibility. For a number of rounds equal to his class level, he can apply his armor bonus to his touch AC, and he becomes immune to critical hits, sneak attacks (and similar abilities), ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, death effects, and fear effects. He cannot be dazed, stunned, sickened, nauseated, fatigued, or exhausted while this ability is active. At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, the general gains an additional use of this ability per day.
Steadfast (Ex): A general is too skilled, too stubborn, and quite frankly, usually too heavily armored (and just plain too heavy) to stop. He adds his class level as a bonus on checks and rolls to resist bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, sunder, and trip attempts against him.
Damage Reduction (Ex): At 2nd level, a general gains damage reduction 1/–. Subtract 1 from the hit point damage the general takes each time he is dealt damage by a weapon, natural attack, or some other physical cause (such as falling, or being subject to high pressure). This damage reduction increases by 1 every two levels thereafter, to 5/– at 10th level. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0. The damage reduction granted by this ability stacks with any similar kind of damage reduction, such as that provided by adamantine armor.
Improved Endurance (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, a general can sleep even in heavy armor without becoming fatigued the next day, and he automatically succeeds on Constitution checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from a forced march. Also, any armor the general wears counts as only one-tenth its normal weight against his carrying capacity. He still suffers from the normal armor check penalties (if any) associated with his armor, and medium and heavy armor still reduce his speed, but it is much more difficult to encumber or immobilize a general with the weight of his own armor, should his Strength score be greatly reduced due to ability damage, drain, or penalty.
Bonus Feats: At 3rd level and every three levels thereafter, a general gains a bonus feat from the following list: Armor Specialization, Combat Expertise, Diehard, Exotic Armor Proficiency, Exotic Shield Proficiency, Greater Heavy Armor Optimization, Greater Tower Shield Defense*, Improved Shield Bash, Improved Tower Shield Defense*, Knockback, Power Attack, Shield Charge, Shield Slam, Shield Specialization, Shield Ward, Steadfast Determination, Toughness (or at the DM's discretion, a comparable feat such as Azure Toughness, Improved Toughness, Incarnum-Fortified Body, or Psionic Body). A general must still meet all prerequisites for a feat, including ability score and base attack minimums.
Enchained Weapon (Ex): At 5th level, a general learns how to make his body, armor, and weapon as one, both metaphorically and literally. By spending an hour to make a DC 15 Craft check, a general can use a length of chain (which he must still obtain normally) to connect a melee weapon to his armor. This increases his reach with the weapon by 5 feet; for example he would threaten spaces and be able to attack enemies 5 to 10 feet away with an enchained greataxe, and he would threaten spaces and be able to attack enemies 10 to 15 feet away (but not adjacent ones) with an enchained ranseur. Also, if the general ever drops or is disarmed of an enchained weapon, recovering it is considered drawing a weapon rather than picking up an item (see page 141 of the Player's Handbook), so he does not provoke attacks of opportunity for doing so, and he can recover it as a free action either as part of a regular move action, or by using the Quick Draw feat if he has it.
An enchained weapon can be disconnected by the general as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. He, or any opponent, can also try to sunder or break the chain. The chain is treated as a light weapon for the purposes of being targeted for a sunder attempt (see page 158 of the Player's Handbook), even though it has more hit points than most light weapons, and cannot be used to attack by itself, should the weapon it's attached to be destroyed first. To simply pull the chain apart, an opponent who successfully grapples the general can choose to attempt a Break check instead of dealing normal unarmed damage.

Table: Chains
Type Cost Weight Hardness HP Break DC
Normal Iron/Steel 30 gp 2 lbs 10 5 26
Masterwork Iron/Steel 100 gp 2 lbs 10 5 28
Mithral 500 gp 1 lb 15 5 30
Adamantine 900 gp 2 lbs 20 6 32
Flails, spiked chains, whips, and any other weapons that already incorporate rope-like, chain-like, or whip-like devices cannot be connected to a general's armor with this ability. Using enchained weapons requires special training that only generals receive, so even if a general connected a melee weapon to an ally's armor, or if someone stole a general's enchained weapon and armor, they wouldn't gain the additional reach, and recovering the weapon would still be considered picking up an item and thus provoke attacks of opportunity.
Wield Oversized Weapon: A general is a giant among men. At 8th level, he gains Wield Oversized Weapon as a bonus feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for it.

NEW FEATS

IMPROVED TOWER SHIELD DEFENSE [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Tower Shield Proficiency, base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: When employing a tower shield in combat, you no longer take a penalty on attack rolls. Also, increase the maximum Dexterity bonus of the tower shield by 1 and reduce the armor check penalty by 3.
Normal: Without this feat, a character wielding a tower shield takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls.

GREATER TOWER SHIELD DEFENSE [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Improved Tower Shield Defense, base attack bonus +5.
Benefit: You are able to make shield bash attacks with a tower shield, though doing so causes you to lose its shield bonus to AC until your next turn unless you have the Improved Shield Bash feat. Also, increase the maximum Dexterity bonus of the tower shield by 1 and reduce the armor check penalty by 4. These effects stack with the benefits of the Improved Tower Shield Defense feat, for a total increase to the maximum Dexterity bonus of 2 and a total lessening of the armor check penalty by 7.
Normal: Without this feat, a character can't use a tower shield to make shield bash attacks.
A_Fatter_MaN
03-12-08, 04:50 PM awesome, i dont know if it is balanced.....but i played fire emblem, and this is awesome
Lotus Crane
03-13-08, 11:51 AM awesome, i dont know if it is balanced.....but i played fire emblem, and this is awesome
Glad you like it is. As far as balance is concerned, the original thread (http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-723112) had a comparison to the Dwarven Defender, which I'll repost here for your convenience.

• Adding a few skill requirements justifies adding more class skills.
• Defensive Stance is roughly comparable to Perfect Defense; at lower levels DS lasts longer than PD, and at higher levels DS can be used more often than PD.
• Reducing the Will save to poor justifies adding Steadfast.
• Removing the +4 AC bonus justifies adding 3 bonus feats.
• Decreasing the DR by 1 justifies allowing it to now stack with the DR provided by adamantine armor.
• Removing Uncanny Dodge, Trap Sense, Improved UD, and Mobile Defense justifies adding Improved Endurance, Enchained Weapon, and Wield Oversized Weapon.
• No, I don't think the General's defense is too good. While Perfect Defense is certainly nice, it's not actually perfect; a General can still be confused, paralyzed, put to sleep (assuming there are sleep effects with no HD cap), and affected by disease, poison, and necromancy effects that cause something other than ability damage, drain, or death. A Dwarven Defender is likely to have better AC than a General, and a General will only have better DR than a Dwarven Defender if he actually invests in adamantine armor instead of the mithral fullplate everyone automatically goes for nowadays.
• No, I don't think the General's offense is too good. I already nipped the most potentially abusable combo in the bud by putting in a "no enchained spike chains" line, not to mention once an opponent figures out what's going on, it's relatively easy to sunder even an adamantine chain. And honestly, gaining access to Wield Oversized Weapon at pre-epic levels is less powerful than a PHB II fighter's Weapon Mastery + Weapon Supremacy combo, or a barbarian with Karmic Strike and/or Robilar's Gambit, even before we take Frenzied Berserker into account.
KaryWanzer
03-20-08, 12:48 AM :bump:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lotus Crane 03-09-08, 09:24 PM	What with 4th Edition being imminent, I thought it'd be fun to flashback to ideas I thought were interesting back when 3.x was all there was. Unfortunately, the original thread (http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-723112) for this, along with the feedback posted, was too old at the time of the server upgrade, so it was relegated to the dead archives. I decided to submit my own version of this fan favorite. For those of you unfamiliar with the Fire Emblem series, the Knight->General class in those games are typically the slowest moving, but most well protected units (at least against physical attacks), with moderately high offense (reflected in this PrC by the giant weapons they're portrayed with in the games). However, the highest damage-dealers in those games are most likely Fighter->Berserker or Myrmidon->Swordmaster, which is why unlike Prime32's version of the General, I decline to give mine Improved or Supreme Power Attack, and also do not have Rage or Frenzy as one of the requirements. GENERAL Hit Die: d12. Requirements To qualify to become a general, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Base Attack Bonus: +7. Feats: Endurance, Heavy Armor Optimization, Toughness (or at the DM's discretion, a comparable feat such as Azure Toughness, Improved Toughness, Incarnum-Fortified Body, or Psionic Body). Skills: Craft 5 ranks, Knowledge (tactics and war) 5 ranks. Class Skills The general’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (tactics and war) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis). Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier. Table: The General Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Perfect defense 1/day, steadfast 2nd +2 +3 +0 +0 Damage reduction 1/–, improved endurance 3rd +3 +3 +1 +1 Bonus feat 4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Damage reduction 2/–, perfect defense 2/day 5th +5 +4 +1 +1 Enchained weapon 6th +6 +5 +2 +2 Bonus feat, damage reduction 3/– 7th +7 +5 +2 +2 Perfect defense 3/day 8th +8 +6 +2 +2 Damage reduction 4/–, Wield Oversized Weapon 9th +9 +6 +3 +3 Bonus feat 10th +10 +7 +3 +3 Damage reduction 5/–, perfect defense 4/day Class Features All of the following are class features of the general prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Generals gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor. Perfect Defense (Ex): A general is less a soldier than a walking fortress. Once per day as an immediate action, he can attain a state of near-invincibility. For a number of rounds equal to his class level, he can apply his armor bonus to his touch AC, and he becomes immune to critical hits, sneak attacks (and similar abilities), ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, death effects, and fear effects. He cannot be dazed, stunned, sickened, nauseated, fatigued, or exhausted while this ability is active. At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, the general gains an additional use of this ability per day. Steadfast (Ex): A general is too skilled, too stubborn, and quite frankly, usually too heavily armored (and just plain too heavy) to stop. He adds his class level as a bonus on checks and rolls to resist bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, sunder, and trip attempts against him. Damage Reduction (Ex): At 2nd level, a general gains damage reduction 1/–. Subtract 1 from the hit point damage the general takes each time he is dealt damage by a weapon, natural attack, or some other physical cause (such as falling, or being subject to high pressure). This damage reduction increases by 1 every two levels thereafter, to 5/– at 10th level. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0. The damage reduction granted by this ability stacks with any similar kind of damage reduction, such as that provided by adamantine armor. Improved Endurance (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, a general can sleep even in heavy armor without becoming fatigued the next day, and he automatically succeeds on Constitution checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from a forced march. Also, any armor the general wears counts as only one-tenth its normal weight against his carrying capacity. He still suffers from the normal armor check penalties (if any) associated with his armor, and medium and heavy armor still reduce his speed, but it is much more difficult to encumber or immobilize a general with the weight of his own armor, should his Strength score be greatly reduced due to ability damage, drain, or penalty. Bonus Feats: At 3rd level and every three levels thereafter, a general gains a bonus feat from the following list: Armor Specialization, Combat Expertise, Diehard, Exotic Armor Proficiency, Exotic Shield Proficiency, Greater Heavy Armor Optimization, Greater Tower Shield Defense, Improved Shield Bash, Improved Tower Shield Defense, Knockback, Power Attack, Shield Charge, Shield Slam, Shield Specialization, Shield Ward, Steadfast Determination, Toughness (or at the DM's discretion, a comparable feat such as Azure Toughness, Improved Toughness, Incarnum-Fortified Body, or Psionic Body). A general must still meet all prerequisites for a feat, including ability score and base attack minimums. Enchained Weapon (Ex): At 5th level, a general learns how to make his body, armor, and weapon as one, both metaphorically and literally. By spending an hour to make a DC 15 Craft check, a general can use a length of chain (which he must still obtain normally) to connect a melee weapon to his armor. This increases his reach with the weapon by 5 feet; for example he would threaten spaces and be able to attack enemies 5 to 10 feet away with an enchained greataxe, and he would threaten spaces and be able to attack enemies 10 to 15 feet away (but not adjacent ones) with an enchained ranseur. Also, if the general ever drops or is disarmed of an enchained weapon, recovering it is considered drawing a weapon rather than picking up an item (see page 141 of the Player's Handbook), so he does not provoke attacks of opportunity for doing so, and he can recover it as a free action either as part of a regular move action, or by using the Quick Draw feat if he has it. An enchained weapon can be disconnected by the general as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. He, or any opponent, can also try to sunder or break the chain. The chain is treated as a light weapon for the purposes of being targeted for a sunder attempt (see page 158 of the Player's Handbook), even though it has more hit points than most light weapons, and cannot be used to attack by itself, should the weapon it's attached to be destroyed first. To simply pull the chain apart, an opponent who successfully grapples the general can choose to attempt a Break check instead of dealing normal unarmed damage. Table: Chains Type Cost Weight Hardness HP Break DC Normal Iron/Steel 30 gp 2 lbs 10 5 26 Masterwork Iron/Steel 100 gp 2 lbs 10 5 28 Mithral 500 gp 1 lb 15 5 30 Adamantine 900 gp 2 lbs 20 6 32 Flails, spiked chains, whips, and any other weapons that already incorporate rope-like, chain-like, or whip-like devices cannot be connected to a general's armor with this ability. Using enchained weapons requires special training that only generals receive, so even if a general connected a melee weapon to an ally's armor, or if someone stole a general's enchained weapon and armor, they wouldn't gain the additional reach, and recovering the weapon would still be considered picking up an item and thus provoke attacks of opportunity. Wield Oversized Weapon: A general is a giant among men. At 8th level, he gains Wield Oversized Weapon as a bonus feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for it. NEW FEATS IMPROVED TOWER SHIELD DEFENSE [GENERAL] Prerequisite: Tower Shield Proficiency, base attack bonus +1. Benefit: When employing a tower shield in combat, you no longer take a penalty on attack rolls. Also, increase the maximum Dexterity bonus of the tower shield by 1 and reduce the armor check penalty by 3. Normal: Without this feat, a character wielding a tower shield takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls. GREATER TOWER SHIELD DEFENSE [GENERAL] Prerequisite: Improved Tower Shield Defense, base attack bonus +5. Benefit: You are able to make shield bash attacks with a tower shield, though doing so causes you to lose its shield bonus to AC until your next turn unless you have the Improved Shield Bash feat. Also, increase the maximum Dexterity bonus of the tower shield by 1 and reduce the armor check penalty by 4. These effects stack with the benefits of the Improved Tower Shield Defense feat, for a total increase to the maximum Dexterity bonus of 2 and a total lessening of the armor check penalty by 7. Normal: Without this feat, a character can't use a tower shield to make shield bash attacks.
A_Fatter_MaN 03-12-08, 04:50 PM	awesome, i dont know if it is balanced.....but i played fire emblem, and this is awesome
Lotus Crane 03-13-08, 11:51 AM	awesome, i dont know if it is balanced.....but i played fire emblem, and this is awesome Glad you like it is. As far as balance is concerned, the original thread (http://forums.gleemax.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-723112) had a comparison to the Dwarven Defender, which I'll repost here for your convenience. • Adding a few skill requirements justifies adding more class skills. • Defensive Stance is roughly comparable to Perfect Defense; at lower levels DS lasts longer than PD, and at higher levels DS can be used more often than PD. • Reducing the Will save to poor justifies adding Steadfast. • Removing the +4 AC bonus justifies adding 3 bonus feats. • Decreasing the DR by 1 justifies allowing it to now stack with the DR provided by adamantine armor. • Removing Uncanny Dodge, Trap Sense, Improved UD, and Mobile Defense justifies adding Improved Endurance, Enchained Weapon, and Wield Oversized Weapon. • No, I don't think the General's defense is too good. While Perfect Defense is certainly nice, it's not actually perfect; a General can still be confused, paralyzed, put to sleep (assuming there are sleep effects with no HD cap), and affected by disease, poison, and necromancy effects that cause something other than ability damage, drain, or death. A Dwarven Defender is likely to have better AC than a General, and a General will only have better DR than a Dwarven Defender if he actually invests in adamantine armor instead of the mithral fullplate everyone automatically goes for nowadays. • No, I don't think the General's offense is too good. I already nipped the most potentially abusable combo in the bud by putting in a "no enchained spike chains" line, not to mention once an opponent figures out what's going on, it's relatively easy to sunder even an adamantine chain. And honestly, gaining access to Wield Oversized Weapon at pre-epic levels is less powerful than a PHB II fighter's Weapon Mastery + Weapon Supremacy combo, or a barbarian with Karmic Strike and/or Robilar's Gambit, even before we take Frenzied Berserker into account.
KaryWanzer 03-20-08, 12:48 AM	:bump: