Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SaberXtreme 06-11-07, 11:19 PM	Well I've Seen alot of these pop up here on the Boards recently and it inspired me to write me own. I've tried to make it balanced. Please critque it honestly. Credit Should go to UNHOLYDRAGOON, this is modified version of his Lancer class. Lancer Lv BaB Fort Ref Will Special Abilities 1 +1 +0 +2 +0 Leap to the Clouds, Aerial Assault 2 +2 +0 +3 +0 Flawless Descent (30ft.) 3 +3 +1 +3 +1 Unfettered Leap (Ignore Movement Penalty) 4 +4 +1 +4 +1 Courageous, Flawless Descent (60ft.) 5 +5 +1 +4 +1 Improved Aerial Assault 6 +6 +2 +5 +2 Unfettered Leap (-3 Armor Check Penalty) 7 +7 +2 +5 +2 Greater Weapon Focus 8 +8 +2 +6 +2 Fearless, Flawless Descent (Any Distance) 9 +9 +3 +6 +3 Unfettered Leap (-6 Armor Check Penalty) 10 +10 +3 +7 +3 Supreme Aerial Assault Requirements Base Attack Bonus: +6 Weapon Proficiency: Spear class weapon Jump: 9 Ranks Feats: Armor Proficiency: (Heavy), Power Attack, Leap Attack, Leap of the Heavens, Weapon Focus: (Spear Class) HD: d10 Class Skills: Balance, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Nobility), Ride, Swim, Tumble Skill Points: 2+Intellegence Modifier Weapons & Armor - A Lancer gains no new armor or weapon Proficiency. Leap to the Clouds (Ex)- The lancer's skill grants him a bonus to his jump. This bonus is equal to 10 ft. per Lancer level. Aerial Assault (Ex)- As the feat from S&F Mantis Leap. Designate an opponent who is within the maximum distance you can reach with a jump check. Make a jump check as normal; if you succeed you may make a normal charge attack against your opponent as part of the same action. If you hit you add twice your strength modifier to damage or three times your strength modifier if you are using a two-handed weapon. After this single attack you land in a square of your choice adjacent to your opponent. Flawless Descent (Ex)- The Lancer is so agile that he can seemingly ignore damage from falls that would cause others harm. At 2nd level he treats falls as being 30 ft shorter than they actually are, this bonus extends to 60ft at 4th level. At 8th Level the Lancer no longer takes damage from falling; furthermore, he cannot be knocked prone by any fall. Unfettered Leap (Ex)- Due to a lancers training in heavy armor, his agility in it becomes nothing short of super natural. At 3rd level, he ignores the movement penalty for wearing armor. At 6th level, a lancer’s armor check penalty is decreased by 3. This bonus increases to 6 at 9th level. Courageous (Su)- Grants all allies (Including the Lancer) in a 10 ft. radius around you a +4 morale bonus vs. fear effects. This is negated if the lancer is rendered helpless. Improved Aerial Assault (Ex) – As Aerial Assault except the target is now also subjected to a trip attack if the attack hits. This trip attack does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity. You may not get an immediate attack if the trip is successful. Greater Weapon Focus (Ex) – The Lancer receive Greater Weapon Focus with a Spear which he has Weapon Focus. Fearless (Ex)- The Lancer is completely immune to fear. This is an extraordinary ability. Supreme Aerial Assault (Ex) – As Aerial Assault except you multiply your strength modifier by three or four times your strength modifier if you are using a two-handed weapon.
windscar18 06-11-07, 11:28 PM	Well....lets see here... Leap to the Clouds: Ummm....I can't tell whether this is ridiculously powerful (100 foot jumps? Jesus.) or ridiculously useless (Lancer: I jump at the Dragon. Dragon: Hey, I see you. Step to the side. Lancer: Awwwwww), but in either case, it's definately a far cry from perfect. Yes, it's important to keeping the flavor of the class. No, it does not work in D&D. By the way, is the jump bonus to long jumps or high jumps? Flawless Descent: Okay, I suppose. Aerial Assault: How does this interact with two handed weapons? Can I seriously use Battle Jump and Skill Mastery (Jump) to take 10 on jumps repeatedly and bounce on my opponent's head like no other? Unfettered Leap: Yay? Courageous: I don't exactly know where you got the inspiration for this ability and it seems kind of random. I suppose it's okay balance wise though. Improved Aerial Assault: Meh. Fearless: Random again? Supreme Aerial Assault: See regular Aerial Assault.
SaberXtreme 06-11-07, 11:45 PM	Well....lets see here... Leap to the Clouds: Ummm....I can't tell whether this is ridiculously powerful (100 foot jumps? Jesus.) or ridiculously useless (Lancer: I jump at the Dragon. Dragon: Hey, I see you. Step to the side. Lancer: Awwwwww), but in either case, it's definately a far cry from perfect. Yes, it's important to keeping the flavor of the class. No, it does not work in D&D. By the way, is the jump bonus to long jumps or high jumps? Aerial Assault: How does this interact with two handed weapons? Can I seriously use Battle Jump and Skill Mastery (Jump) to take 10 on jumps repeatedly and bounce on my opponent's head like no other? Courageous: I don't exactly know where you got the inspiration for this ability and it seems kind of random. I suppose it's okay balance wise though. I didn't think Leap to the Clouds was too bad. It doesn't increase your damage output. Yes, its pretty far, but by the time you get to Jump that far you're 16th level. Mages are warping the very fabric of reality with snail goo and ground up rocks at this point. Still though would a skill bonus to jump based on character level be better? I fixed Aerial Assualt. Thanks for pointing that out. The courage and Fearless are based on the as-yet-unwritten fluff. They were in the PrC that inspired this one and I didn't think it too bad to leave them in this build.
windscar18 06-12-07, 01:22 PM	Yeah, it's probably better to give it a net skill bonus. Like I said, I'm not really sure whether Leap to the Clouds was perfectly balanced as it has little battle use. Then again...
SaberXtreme 06-12-07, 03:46 PM	That was a big debate when I was coming up with the class as well. 100 ft. is pretty far but at that level I've seen characters with 70ft. moves without any magical enhancements. Though it does allow you to close distances quickly it has absolutely no bearing on combat. I've toyed with a few other ideas. For instance instead of adding Jump skill ranks I could instead have the Lancer treat Jump DCs as being only half of what they really are. For instance the normal DC to long jump 30 ft. is 30, but at a certain level the Lancer would treat that DC as being only 15. I'm really not certain which would be better. Also, should I add Greater Weapon Specialization or would that be too much?
windscar18 06-12-07, 05:17 PM	1) Well, the issue is that when you jump, if the jump distance is greater than your base speed, it takes MORE than one round to complete the jump. Thus, it's useless to jump so high combat wise, but absolutely useful when adventuring, because it's a mini-hover of sorts. For example, some trap sets off an earthquake. You jump, and since it takes several rounds for you to land, you're safe. 2) It's easier to count the jump as running jumps, which is half of the time part of the jump you want to do, but can't. 3) Meh, +4 damage is very desirable, but I never actually try to include it when testing out builds.
SaberXtreme 06-12-07, 05:49 PM	1) Well, the issue is that when you jump, if the jump distance is greater than your base speed, it takes MORE than one round to complete the jump. Thus, it's useless to jump so high combat wise, but absolutely useful when adventuring, because it's a mini-hover of sorts. For example, some trap sets off an earthquake. You jump, and since it takes several rounds for you to land, you're safe. 2) It's easier to count the jump as running jumps, which is half of the time part of the jump you want to do, but can't. 3) Meh, +4 damage is very desirable, but I never actually try to include it when testing out builds. 1) I see your point there. Perhaps it would help if I stipulated that the distance is covered in one move action (regardless of base speed) when and only when using Aerial Assault Abilty? 2)I'm sorry I don't quite get what you're saying with this one. 3. But do you think it would be unbalancing to earn GWF a bit earlier in the class and GWS toward the end?
windscar18 06-12-07, 09:50 PM	The thing is that jumping during combat is actually very difficult. Mainly because you never get a running start. So, it's just cleaner to make an ability that says "The Lancer, while jumping, considers all jumps that he makes running jumps". It's a little less powerful than having all Jump DCs be half, but it's the same idea during combat. And I don't have much of an opinion on GWF or GWS, so sure, why not? EDIT: I'm not a terrible fan of strength multipliers, though it's probably the cleanest way to make an ability that's not terribly overpowered. But yeah, the Aerial Assault idea is pretty good.
SaberXtreme 06-12-07, 09:56 PM	The thing is that jumping during combat is actually very difficult. Mainly because you never get a running start. So, it's just cleaner to make an ability that says "The Lancer, while jumping, considers all jumps that he makes running jumps". It's a little less powerful than having all Jump DCs be half, but it's the same idea during combat. And I don't have much of an opinion on GWF or GWS, so sure, why not? EDIT: I'm not a terrible fan of strength multipliers, though it's probably the cleanest way to make an ability that's not terribly overpowered. But yeah, the Aerial Assault idea is pretty good. Well the Leap of the Heavens feat prevents the DC from doubling if you do not get a running start. But treating a jump as having a 20ft start would grant a +5 to the jump check.
windscar18 06-12-07, 09:57 PM	Yeah, perhaps.