[ToB Stance PrC]Master of the Perfected Form, PEACH [Archive] - Wizards Community

[ToB Stance PrC]Master of the Perfected Form, PEACH [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
saidin0111
04-20-07, 05:34 PM MASTER OF THE PERFECTED FORM

Picture URL

Quote of Some Kind by a member of the class!

Having discovered that the way one approaches the battle is often as important as how the battle is fought has led some martial adepts to focus intensley on learning the forms of the martial arts, learning as many stances as they can. These Masters of the Perfected Form sacrifice increased combat techniques in order to have just the right stance for any battle. At their pinnacle, they can maintain two stances at once and can rapidly adopt many more for a breif amount of time.

MAKING A MASTER OF THE PERFECTED FORM

Abilities: The abilities that a Master of the Perfected Form needs vary with their path of entry into the class, but Strength will help them to deal more damage, Intelligence will help them to maintain the skills of their disciplines, plus Wisdom is useful to those coming from a Crusader or Swordsage background.
Races: Any race that is likely to produce martial adepts is likely to produce Masters of the Perfected Form, though races of a more lawful bent have somewhat larger numbers of masters. The rigid focus of stance mastery is often more than some of the more free spirited races are willing to devote to such pursuits.
Alignment: Masters fo the Perfected Form range from good to evil and from lawful to chaotic. That being said, the general trend is towards law and neutrality.
Entry Requirements:
BAB: +5
Skills: 10 ranks Martial Lore, 10 ranks (discipline skill) of discipline used to fill following requirements
Maneuvers Known: 7, 3 of which must be from one discipline
Stances Known: 2 from the above discipline, 2 from any other disciplines
Initiator Level: 5th
Feats: Adaptive Style, Martial Stance(any), Skill Focus (discipline skill of above discipline), Weapon Focus(any favored weapon of above discipline)

Class Skills
The Master of the Perfected Form's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (History) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Tumble (Dex)
Skills Per Level: 2 + INT

Hit Dice: d8

BAB Fort Ref Will Stances Learned Abilities
1. +1 +2 +2 +0 1 Multistance
2. +2 +3 +3 +0 1 Favored Stance
3. +3 +3 +3 +1 0 Bonus Maneuver
4. +4 +4 +4 +1 1 Favored Stance
5. +5 +4 +4 +1 1 Improved Multistance
6. +6 +5 +5 +2 1 Favored Stance, Favored Knowledge
7. +7 +5 +5 +2 0 Bonus Maneuver
8. +8 +6 +6 +2 1 Favored Stance
9. +9 +6 +6 +3 1 Greater Multistance
10. +10 +7 +7 +3 1 Stance Mastery, Favored Stance

Weapon Proficiencies: A Master of the Perfected Form gains is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armors.

Initiator Level: A Master of the Perfected Form gains initiator levles like a martial adept.

Stances Known: A Master of the Perfected Form gains additional stances at an incredible speed of one per level, except any level that they learn a maneuver, though they sacrifice learning any maneuvers regularly gained by advancing in any martial adept classes they already possess. For the purposes of learning stances through this class, a character is treated as having at least one maneuver known of any disciplines available to any martial adept classes they may belong to. They are also not restricted to only learning stances of disciplines that they could have learned in an adept class they belong to, they may learn stances from any discipline that they know maneuvers from.

Manuevers Known: A Master of the Perfected Form gains an additional maneuver at 3rd level and again every 4 levels thereafter. This maneuver can be of any discipline that the master knows a stance in. The manuever can be recovered as any adept class the character belonged to before taking this prestige class.

Multistance(EX): Starting at 1st level, a Master of the Perfected Form learns a new maneuver that allows them to, as a swift action, gain the benefit of an additional stance until the end of their next turn. They learn an improved version of this maneuver at 5th level, allowing them to benefit from two additional stances instead of one, and at 9th level, they learn the greater version, allowing them to benefit from three additional stances and for an extra round than the two lesser versions of the maneuver. These maneuvers can be recovered just like any other maneuver, they differ however in the fact that they are always readied and do not take up any readied maneuvers available to the character, in addition, Multistance maneuvers can only be used at maximum once every other turn.

Favored Stance(EX): At 2nd level, a Master of the Perfected Form chooses a stance to be their favored stance, they gain +1 to attack and damage rolls while in this stance. They gain another favored stance at 4th level and every two levels thereafter, they may choose the same stance again, improving it by +1 to attack and damage rolls. Additionally, if three different stances are chosen, and are from the same discipline, all stances from that discipline gain +1 to attack rolls, though the two favored stances do not gain any additional benefit beyond the normal favored stance bonus to attack and damage rolls. Favored Stance bonuses stack while using Multistance and/or Double Stance or any other ability that allows the use of multiple stances.

Favored Knowledge(EX): At 6th level, a Master of the Perfected Form develops a deep understanding of the disciplines of their favored stances. When assuming a favored stance, you may add one manuever, of the same discipline as the stance, to your list of readied maneuvers. You must meet the prerequisites for this maneuver in order to ready it, when you leave this stance, you lose knowledge of this maneuver as well.

Stance Mastery(EX): At 10th level, a Master of the Perfected Form gains the coveted ability to maintain two stances at the same time. This ability functions as the Warblade ability of the same name.

PLAYING A MASTER OF THE PERFECTED FORM

Religion: Masters of the perfected form that worship deities often choose to worship gods of law and strength, such as Heironeous and St. Cuthbert. Evil masters often pick gods of tyrrany such as Hextor.
Other Classes: You prefer to work with others of a martial or studious inclination, martial adepts, clerics, wizards, and like minded individuals are all good adventuring companions for you. While such individuals are your prefered company, you realize that not all things can be accomplished by straight forward means and are not hesitant to employ the aid of those of a more questionable character, for it is with their help that you can get to the inner most sanctums of your most cunning adversaries.
Combat: Being limited on your selection of maneuvers compared to other martial adepts of a similar level, you must rely on your ability to adopt multiple stances at the same time. At first, this ability is fairly limited, though the number of maneuvers you've missed out on is also small, as you advance, your stances become more effective and you can adopt more of them at the same time, allowing you to activate an array of offensive and defensive abilities reliably throughout combat.
Advancement: As you advance, you should focus on learning a spread of both offensive and defensive stances. Using three stances from the same discipline for Favored Stance and focusing on stances of a single discipline allows for a vast increase in combat abilities while using Double Stance and the Multistance maneuvers.

MASTERS OF THE PERFECTED FORM IN THE WORLD
A quote of somebody else talking about your class!

Daily Life:
Notables:
Organizations:

NPC Reaction
Most NPC's don't know enough to distinguish a master from any other highly accomplished martial adept, and don't treat them any differently. Martial adepts and those familiar with martial skills recognize them as being undisputed masters of the forms of combat and capable combatants, often begining with a friendly attitude, though many believe that while the stances one uses in combat are important, vital importance should lie with the maneuvers one chooses to use. Such individuals are at best indifferent and at worst hostile.
bobothechimp
04-20-07, 09:23 PM You've taken the capstone ability of a Warblade and made it the fifth-level ability of a prestige class with easy requirements.
saidin0111
04-21-07, 08:31 AM this is true, I think the req's definitely need an increase, plus, I think that I may want to do something about preventing stacking of the Multistance maneuvers, as I counted and came up with between the Double Stance and the right order of Multistance, you could benefit from 8 extra stances for one round, definitely needs a tone down and increased req's
saidin0111
04-21-07, 08:48 AM okay, I've changed the req's to be more demanding, plus I've limited the Multistance maneuvers to at most, once per two turns, and Double Stance specificly states that it is not quite as useful as the Stance Mastery of the Warblade, though the drawback is probably pretty trivial in most cases
saidin0111
04-21-07, 01:53 PM I need some help with the skills, as I don't have my book with me, what are the discipline skills?

Desert Wind - Tumble
Devoted Mind - ?
Diamond Mind - Concentration
Iron Heart - ?
Setting Sun - ?
Shadow Hand - Hide
Stone Dragon - ?
Tiger Claw - Jump
White Raven - ?
saidin0111
04-21-07, 03:22 PM I've added some flavor and changed the formatting of the class, as well as tweaked some of the req's and added some proficiencies
bobothechimp
04-21-07, 05:35 PM Still lets you get the Warblade's capstone ability (with an extremely minor difference) 8 levels earlier than you normally could.
saidin0111
04-21-07, 06:21 PM actually, the skill ranks force you to be 9th level to get the req's, therefore can start taking it at 10th, reaching the ability at lvl 13, though that still places it 7 levels earlier, hmm, well I have been working on an idea to expand it to a 10 level PrC, that way it would put more hurt on maneuvers known plus elevate the levels of the higher end abilities, I think I'll start getting that ready to post
saidin0111
04-21-07, 07:02 PM minimum entry level is now 8th, putting the Stance Mastery at 18th level, allowing say a warblade to multiclass for a total of 5 levels and still gain access to their main ability at the cost of lots of maneuvers, there is now some maneuver access, the number of favored stances has increased, as has the req to gain discipline wide bonuses
saidin0111
04-21-07, 07:31 PM I believe I have balanced the class fairly well now, while it does steal some of the Warblade's uniqueness, it does so at a potentially tremendous cost, while not completely robbing the class of any usefulness
saidin0111
04-22-07, 08:59 AM I've now added a list of skills to the class, not finalized, but I think it fits well

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
saidin0111 04-20-07, 05:34 PM	MASTER OF THE PERFECTED FORM Picture URL Quote of Some Kind by a member of the class! Having discovered that the way one approaches the battle is often as important as how the battle is fought has led some martial adepts to focus intensley on learning the forms of the martial arts, learning as many stances as they can. These Masters of the Perfected Form sacrifice increased combat techniques in order to have just the right stance for any battle. At their pinnacle, they can maintain two stances at once and can rapidly adopt many more for a breif amount of time. MAKING A MASTER OF THE PERFECTED FORM Abilities: The abilities that a Master of the Perfected Form needs vary with their path of entry into the class, but Strength will help them to deal more damage, Intelligence will help them to maintain the skills of their disciplines, plus Wisdom is useful to those coming from a Crusader or Swordsage background. Races: Any race that is likely to produce martial adepts is likely to produce Masters of the Perfected Form, though races of a more lawful bent have somewhat larger numbers of masters. The rigid focus of stance mastery is often more than some of the more free spirited races are willing to devote to such pursuits. Alignment: Masters fo the Perfected Form range from good to evil and from lawful to chaotic. That being said, the general trend is towards law and neutrality. Entry Requirements: BAB: +5 Skills: 10 ranks Martial Lore, 10 ranks (discipline skill) of discipline used to fill following requirements Maneuvers Known: 7, 3 of which must be from one discipline Stances Known: 2 from the above discipline, 2 from any other disciplines Initiator Level: 5th Feats: Adaptive Style, Martial Stance(any), Skill Focus (discipline skill of above discipline), Weapon Focus(any favored weapon of above discipline) Class Skills The Master of the Perfected Form's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (History) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Tumble (Dex) Skills Per Level: 2 + INT Hit Dice: d8 BAB Fort Ref Will Stances Learned Abilities 1. +1 +2 +2 +0 1 Multistance 2. +2 +3 +3 +0 1 Favored Stance 3. +3 +3 +3 +1 0 Bonus Maneuver 4. +4 +4 +4 +1 1 Favored Stance 5. +5 +4 +4 +1 1 Improved Multistance 6. +6 +5 +5 +2 1 Favored Stance, Favored Knowledge 7. +7 +5 +5 +2 0 Bonus Maneuver 8. +8 +6 +6 +2 1 Favored Stance 9. +9 +6 +6 +3 1 Greater Multistance 10. +10 +7 +7 +3 1 Stance Mastery, Favored Stance Weapon Proficiencies: A Master of the Perfected Form gains is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armors. Initiator Level: A Master of the Perfected Form gains initiator levles like a martial adept. Stances Known: A Master of the Perfected Form gains additional stances at an incredible speed of one per level, except any level that they learn a maneuver, though they sacrifice learning any maneuvers regularly gained by advancing in any martial adept classes they already possess. For the purposes of learning stances through this class, a character is treated as having at least one maneuver known of any disciplines available to any martial adept classes they may belong to. They are also not restricted to only learning stances of disciplines that they could have learned in an adept class they belong to, they may learn stances from any discipline that they know maneuvers from. Manuevers Known: A Master of the Perfected Form gains an additional maneuver at 3rd level and again every 4 levels thereafter. This maneuver can be of any discipline that the master knows a stance in. The manuever can be recovered as any adept class the character belonged to before taking this prestige class. Multistance(EX): Starting at 1st level, a Master of the Perfected Form learns a new maneuver that allows them to, as a swift action, gain the benefit of an additional stance until the end of their next turn. They learn an improved version of this maneuver at 5th level, allowing them to benefit from two additional stances instead of one, and at 9th level, they learn the greater version, allowing them to benefit from three additional stances and for an extra round than the two lesser versions of the maneuver. These maneuvers can be recovered just like any other maneuver, they differ however in the fact that they are always readied and do not take up any readied maneuvers available to the character, in addition, Multistance maneuvers can only be used at maximum once every other turn. Favored Stance(EX): At 2nd level, a Master of the Perfected Form chooses a stance to be their favored stance, they gain +1 to attack and damage rolls while in this stance. They gain another favored stance at 4th level and every two levels thereafter, they may choose the same stance again, improving it by +1 to attack and damage rolls. Additionally, if three different stances are chosen, and are from the same discipline, all stances from that discipline gain +1 to attack rolls, though the two favored stances do not gain any additional benefit beyond the normal favored stance bonus to attack and damage rolls. Favored Stance bonuses stack while using Multistance and/or Double Stance or any other ability that allows the use of multiple stances. Favored Knowledge(EX): At 6th level, a Master of the Perfected Form develops a deep understanding of the disciplines of their favored stances. When assuming a favored stance, you may add one manuever, of the same discipline as the stance, to your list of readied maneuvers. You must meet the prerequisites for this maneuver in order to ready it, when you leave this stance, you lose knowledge of this maneuver as well. Stance Mastery(EX): At 10th level, a Master of the Perfected Form gains the coveted ability to maintain two stances at the same time. This ability functions as the Warblade ability of the same name. PLAYING A MASTER OF THE PERFECTED FORM Religion: Masters of the perfected form that worship deities often choose to worship gods of law and strength, such as Heironeous and St. Cuthbert. Evil masters often pick gods of tyrrany such as Hextor. Other Classes: You prefer to work with others of a martial or studious inclination, martial adepts, clerics, wizards, and like minded individuals are all good adventuring companions for you. While such individuals are your prefered company, you realize that not all things can be accomplished by straight forward means and are not hesitant to employ the aid of those of a more questionable character, for it is with their help that you can get to the inner most sanctums of your most cunning adversaries. Combat: Being limited on your selection of maneuvers compared to other martial adepts of a similar level, you must rely on your ability to adopt multiple stances at the same time. At first, this ability is fairly limited, though the number of maneuvers you've missed out on is also small, as you advance, your stances become more effective and you can adopt more of them at the same time, allowing you to activate an array of offensive and defensive abilities reliably throughout combat. Advancement: As you advance, you should focus on learning a spread of both offensive and defensive stances. Using three stances from the same discipline for Favored Stance and focusing on stances of a single discipline allows for a vast increase in combat abilities while using Double Stance and the Multistance maneuvers. MASTERS OF THE PERFECTED FORM IN THE WORLD A quote of somebody else talking about your class! Daily Life: Notables: Organizations: NPC Reaction Most NPC's don't know enough to distinguish a master from any other highly accomplished martial adept, and don't treat them any differently. Martial adepts and those familiar with martial skills recognize them as being undisputed masters of the forms of combat and capable combatants, often begining with a friendly attitude, though many believe that while the stances one uses in combat are important, vital importance should lie with the maneuvers one chooses to use. Such individuals are at best indifferent and at worst hostile.
bobothechimp 04-20-07, 09:23 PM	You've taken the capstone ability of a Warblade and made it the fifth-level ability of a prestige class with easy requirements.
saidin0111 04-21-07, 08:31 AM	this is true, I think the req's definitely need an increase, plus, I think that I may want to do something about preventing stacking of the Multistance maneuvers, as I counted and came up with between the Double Stance and the right order of Multistance, you could benefit from 8 extra stances for one round, definitely needs a tone down and increased req's
saidin0111 04-21-07, 08:48 AM	okay, I've changed the req's to be more demanding, plus I've limited the Multistance maneuvers to at most, once per two turns, and Double Stance specificly states that it is not quite as useful as the Stance Mastery of the Warblade, though the drawback is probably pretty trivial in most cases
saidin0111 04-21-07, 01:53 PM	I need some help with the skills, as I don't have my book with me, what are the discipline skills? Desert Wind - Tumble Devoted Mind - ? Diamond Mind - Concentration Iron Heart - ? Setting Sun - ? Shadow Hand - Hide Stone Dragon - ? Tiger Claw - Jump White Raven - ?
saidin0111 04-21-07, 03:22 PM	I've added some flavor and changed the formatting of the class, as well as tweaked some of the req's and added some proficiencies
bobothechimp 04-21-07, 05:35 PM	Still lets you get the Warblade's capstone ability (with an extremely minor difference) 8 levels earlier than you normally could.
saidin0111 04-21-07, 06:21 PM	actually, the skill ranks force you to be 9th level to get the req's, therefore can start taking it at 10th, reaching the ability at lvl 13, though that still places it 7 levels earlier, hmm, well I have been working on an idea to expand it to a 10 level PrC, that way it would put more hurt on maneuvers known plus elevate the levels of the higher end abilities, I think I'll start getting that ready to post
saidin0111 04-21-07, 07:02 PM	minimum entry level is now 8th, putting the Stance Mastery at 18th level, allowing say a warblade to multiclass for a total of 5 levels and still gain access to their main ability at the cost of lots of maneuvers, there is now some maneuver access, the number of favored stances has increased, as has the req to gain discipline wide bonuses
saidin0111 04-21-07, 07:31 PM	I believe I have balanced the class fairly well now, while it does steal some of the Warblade's uniqueness, it does so at a potentially tremendous cost, while not completely robbing the class of any usefulness
saidin0111 04-22-07, 08:59 AM	I've now added a list of skills to the class, not finalized, but I think it fits well