Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Flay Crimsonwind 05-06-07, 02:42 PM	**Disclaimer** Yes, this class is heavily influenced by Snatch, and I drag the flavor of the following plot from a few scenes and lines from the movie. If itsounds like I stole it from that source, I probably did. It's also influenced by the Sangehirn Psionic Prestige Class, which I thought would make an awesome boxer if done right. And I've never said it before, but PEACH..... The Amaranth The Amaranth; a flower that never died, that was believed to grow on Mount Olympus. The name amaranth comes from the Greek a (not) + marainean (to waste away). But what do I know about flowers? I'm a boxing promoter. Didn't even know about Amaranths until a week ago, when I was forced to switch my fighters for this up-coming match. Why? 'Cause my current fighter knocked my old one out due to an argument, that's why. So here I am, trying to tell this man, the kingpin of underworld boxing matches, why I'm switching fighters two days before a match, from Mad Manwell, the 200 poundheavy weight underworld "Cannon-Fist", to aguy who stands five foot eight inches tall and names himself after his fighting style, which happens to also be named after a pretty pinkish red flower. Things do not look up for me, as far as my image is concerned. Thank god he doesn't know that the kid sitting next to me is the guy I'm switching out. But gotta tell him soon. Now. He's not gonna like it........ he didn't like it. He definetly has a right to scream, but the kid's starting to laugh. Please kiddo, don't screw this up; he'll have us both in his office hung up by our balls. And now he wants me to explain why this kid should fight? I've no idea why. He's just an Amaranth, I say, he'll give you a good fight. But what the hell's an Amaranth, he asks. Truth be told I don't right know myself. All I've heard is that they're not really a school, they're not really a race, and they're not really an organization. They're just.......... fighters. Streetfighters, a lot of them. Illegal fighters, most of them. All I know is, these people have done everything possible to themselves to ensure they can't die in a fight. And after seeing him take out Manwell like that, I know what that means. The guy just..... well it wasn't even a fight. Manwell kicked him around, whilst he got ready for a fight. Then he dropped 'im. It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen. He started off just a street punk, a lazy cap and a worn jacket; a vagabond thief, by the looks of it. Then he bumped into Manwell, and told him off; that kid's got balls, I told myself. Then Manwell got mad an' bad mouthed him, and the kid got right in his face, sayin' something about a bet. I thought for sure the kid lost it. Then he hits Manwell, and Manwell went back, eyes rolling to find their place again. That's impossible, I thought, ym jaw dropping; he can't be older than sixteen. That ****** Manwell off. And the kid started taking off his jacket. Manwell slugged him. The kid moved with the blow, taking it straight up, but just turned back around. He threw the jacket at his friends. Manwell swung again, the kid took the hit in the stomach and was tossed onto his face. Starting to get up, Manwell kicked him right in the ribs, and the kid turned over a bit; he was feeling the hits. Then Manwell starts to walk, and the kid's up again, taking off his hole-filled poor-boy vest. Hit pretty hard for a fat ****er, he says. Tossing the jacket as Manwell picks him up, ramming him into a low brick wall, taking the wall down like a single-piece fence. The kid lays there, groans once half-assed like, cracks his back, and has his friends push the wall back up, and he's just warming up there, twisting his back, rolling shoulders. That's it, I'm out, Manwell says, this is sick. But the kid's sayin' he wont go anywhere until the bet money's in his hands. The kid throws off his undershirt, and he's pretty built. Lil bit of scarring, but nothing big. What's worse, absolutely no signs of his recent beating. Manwell moves forward, throwing a punch. And he falls; in that split second, the kid moved, swung once, and Manwell goes down. Clean hit, once struck, and my man drops unconscious, bleedin' from the nose when he was hit in the side of the head. Turns out the kid was a streetfighting Amaranth bareknuckle boxing champion. Which makes him harder than a coffin nail. He was like he was 'cause he was trained as an Amaranth, a vagabond Fighter, beating himself to get stronger, better, un-****ing-beatable. The Amaranth don't refer to the color, but to the flower. A Flower, the flower of the olympian gods, the flower that never dies. Oh, a match to show me why I shouldn't be skinned, eh? He wants the kid to fight, or we're both dead? Fine, kiddo says, he'll do it. Coulda been a shite sight worse for the both of us if he said no. We'd be dead, but I think now we'll have our fight. And now he's takin' off that jacket of his. Watch these, he says. But I'll be a bit busy stunned as the rest of 'em, watching his lil show here. Off comes the fighter's shirts; one of this promoter's guy's has gotten in the ring. big, 200 pound muscley guy. He may look like a fat ****er........ well, he is, but he's dangerous, I tell Poppy, but he don't seem worried. Why the flower that never dies? Cause apparently, and I'm one to witness, there's one thing in common with all Amaranths, and that's the reason why Poppy Amaranth, my lil sixteen year old fighter here, is gonna get me out of this alive and rich. One thing that drives the lot of them, the rotten gypsy scoundrel boxing lot of 'em. One thing that sets them apart from the rest of the world, from every pugilist, from every fat-git boxer, from every fist-fighter policeman and monk. Apparently, it's just impossible to kill the bastards. Amaranths have learned that the best way to stay alive in a dangerous world is to not hurt in the first place, and to know how to heal. They focus their minds on the body and learn how to keep it fit. They see the body as a simple pattern of blood flow, muscle, and bone -- easily repaired. As they advance in levels, this belief manifests itself in their own bodies, causing incredible healing capabilities, invoked by nothing other than their physical will. They, or rather, their bodies, have learned how to heal themselves naturally and further resist damage. As they grow, their natural defenses become ridiculous. With a new ease on life, many of these chaotic beings willing to morph their own body through will and harsh experiences grow fond of combat, as they feel less threatened thanks to their newfound powers. Whilst not evil, they hold less regard for the laws of the universe, as their body is a physical testament to how one can challenge the universe's laws. Many become boxers or other fistfighters, forcing themselves to be subject to brutal beatings to find the limit of their powers. Requirements To qualify to become an Am,aranth, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Base Attack Bonus: +6. Feats: Fast Healing, Power Attack, Improved Unarmed Strike Alignment: Chaotic Any Table 1-1: The Amaranth Level BaB Fort Ref Will Abilities 1st +1 +2 +2 +0 Amaranth Fighting Abilities, Strive for Perfection 2nd +2 +3 +3 +0 Harsh Blow 3rd +3 +3 +3 +1 Damage reduction 2/-- 4th +4 +4 +4 +1 Biding Abuse 5th +5 +4 +4 +1 Fast healing 1, Stone form 2/day 6th +6 +5 +5 +2 Damage reduction 4/-- 7th +7 +5 +5 +2 Fast healing 2 8th +8 +5 +6 +2 Step Beyond Humanity 9th +9 +6 +6 +3 Damage reduction 6/--, Fast healing 3 10th +10 +7 +7 +3 Iron Form 2/day, Iron Jaw Skills: As a Monk Class Features: Amaranth Fighting Abilities: The Amaranth class levels stack with any monk levels to determine Unarmed Strike damage, stunning fist attempts per day, and unarmed speed bonus, but not AC bonus. Instead, the Amaranth have a mysterious defensive aura that they train into their skin, their very will manifest into a raw shield. They gain an unnamed +1 bonus to AC for every two class levels. The Amaranth are boxers, essentially, and thus they do not use armor, and rarely weapons. Any character wearing armor looses all Amaranth abilities whilst the armor is being worn. Strive For Perfection: This training encompasses not only physical defense, but in doing so perfects their physical form, driving it to internal defenses against disease, poison, and age. At level one, the Amaranth gains immunity to nonmagical diseases. At level five, they gain immunity to poison as well. At level ten, they no longer take ability score penalties for aging, and cannot be magically aged (any aging penalties they may have accrued until that point remain). Bonuses still acrue, and the Amaranth still dies of old age when their time is up. Harsh Blow: In the first round of combat, the Amaranth can make a second innitiative check against one opponent, in regards only to this round. If the opponents innitiative is higher, then any natural armor of the Amaranth is ignored for the first round of combat. If the Amaranth wins, they find an opening in their opponent, and deal an extra 1d6 damage plus 1d6 damage per four levels above second (at tenth level, +3d6). Biding Abuse: The Amaranth have learned to take an opponents blows, just so that they can absorb the kinetic force and have their body release an amount of that energy into their hits. The Amaranth will bide attacks, taking a -5 to attack for three rounds. At the end of those three rounds, upon the Amaranth's next attack phase on the first attack, the Amaranth may gain a +2 to hit, and adds all damage blocked by their Damage reduction in the past three rounds to their first attack. Useable once per day per two levels of Amaranth class. Stone Form: As the spell Stoneskin, twice a day, as a natural ability. The caster level is equal to the level of Amaranth. Must provide the material component as if casting the spell. Step Beyond Humanity: The Amaranth have learned to pour their energy only into their body, lowering some power of theirs in order to raise another. Select one ability score you would like to boost, and increase it by the same amount that you decrease one or more other scores. All score decreases are treated as a special form of ability damage, called ability burn, which cannot be magically or psionically healed—it goes away only through natural healing. You can boost your Strength, Dexterity or Constitution score by an amount equal to your Amaranth level (or any lesser amount), assuming you can afford to burn your other ability scores to such an extent. When the duration of this power expires, your ability boost also ends, but your ability burn remains until it is healed naturally. Useabl once a day per four Amaranth levels. Iron Form: As the spell Iron Body, twice a day, as a natural ability. The caster level is equal to the level of Amaranth. Must provide the material component as if casting the spell. Iron Jaw: Years of heavy blows to the body have raised the resistance of the Amaranth against amateur hits. The Amaranth gains Damage reduction equal to their consitution modifier vs. nonlethal damage. Also, they gain a +1 bonus vs. being stunned. Amarath Feat: Strike from Beyond Consciousness: Amaranth fighters have been known to deal a single blow, having reached a carnal stage of pain, that strikes their enemies down in a single blow with their full force and speed. Their bodies reach a momentary burst of all of their strength, and they revive for a single blow of their ultimate power. Prerequisites: Step Beyond Humanity class feature, Stunning Fist Benefit: Once a day, when reduced to 0 or less HP, the Amaranth can choose to use this ability. They immediately become stable, and regain HP equal to their Fast Healing plus their constitution modifier. In addition, they may immediately rise from prone if prone and move to an opponent within the movement limit, making a single attack roll at their highest score. If the attack hits, the Amaranth deals a full attack round, and the damage is dealt all at once as a single blow. The target, having recieved the hit, will be knocked down as if by a trip attempt, though the Amaranth may not take an AoO against the prone opponent, nor may they attempt to coup de grace them. Afterwards, the Amaranth is exhausted, and takes -5 to all attack and damage rolls for having exerted themelves to their limit. Our own Mickey the Pikey class. Balanced? I compared it to the Sangehirn class in this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=12284126#post12284126), but then I was just trying to remove it's psionic properties, whilst now I've designed a just hard to drop unarmed melee class. Thoughts? Opinions? Fangirls/boys?
Flay Crimsonwind 05-06-07, 08:20 PM	........ um, bump? :bump: Y'serious that this is balanced? I know it's only gotten so many views, but seriously, this is okay?
Flay Crimsonwind 05-07-07, 01:12 AM	Bump :bump: No comments? Nothing at all? :eek:
Fabius Maximus 05-07-07, 06:53 AM	Well, I have one. Or rather a question: how did you come up with the name? Amaranth is the name of a type of grain cultivated by south and middle american indigenous peoples. Sounds a bit silly.
Flay Crimsonwind 05-07-07, 07:49 PM	Oh yeah, Amaranth is also a color close to rose red. A flower of the same color, said to never die, was said to be grown on mount olympus by the old Greek gods. It also happens to be a flowery weed and a grain, so as odd as it sounds, it has mythic origins. I tried tying it into the flavor story, but I guess it still sounds weird. I might come up with a new name though, lol.
Flay Crimsonwind 05-08-07, 07:51 PM	Last check before I propose it to DM; is it sound?