The Prestige Psychic Warrior & Ninja [Archive] - Wizards Community

The Prestige Psychic Warrior & Ninja [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Jack Daniel
02-26-04, 03:41 PM My D&D campaigns are usually very dichotomous when it comes to sacred cows vs. new ideas. I like for bards, paladins, and rangers to be rare, special classes like they were in AD&D. I like for rangers to be more like paladins than thieves. These are my sacred cows. On the other hand, I don’t mind changing a few things up. I re-title classes where it fits my setting (berserker, priest, and witch replacing barbarian, cleric, and druid, for example). I was using wounds, vitality, defense bonus, and action points long before UA was announced. I ripped the noble and the tech specialist from other sources and added them to the list of canon classes.

Now that UA is out, I’ve been able to streamline my class system. It’s actually kind of cool how I’ve been able to make everything so symmetrical. I have twelve basic classes, divided into six magical and six non-magical classes. Of the non-magical classes, two are heavy warriors (the fighter & the berserker), two are light warriors (the monk & the noble), and two are skill experts (the rogue & the technologist). On the magic side, there are two divine spellcasters (the priest & the witch), two arcane spellcasters (the wizard & the sorcerer), and two psionicists (the psion & the wilder). Being the RPG classicist as I am, these six divisions might also be called the fighter, black-belt, thief, white-mage, black-mage, and red-mage groups… but I digress. :D

Then there are the promotional classes. The bard and paladin I’ve left relatively unchanged from UA, except for an alteration to the bard’s requirements (since the 1e bard was essentially the first prestige class, a fighter/thief/druid combination, I allow prestige bards to progress on wizard, sorcerer, or witch spellcasting ability). The ranger needed some changes to bring the class up to snuff with the Aragorn/Drizzt/Minsc archetype so prevalent in all my games, but that’s not much of a stretch:
Change vitality die from d8 to 10. Skill points fall to 4 + Int. Rangers must be good-aligned, and rangers don't get an archery feat-chain! Spell ability can be either witch or wizard based (rather than druid or cleric based… again, drawing on inspiration from 1st edition, back when rangers cast both druid and magic-user spells).

==========

My ninja class is essentially derived from the 2nd edition version from the Complete Ninja’s Handbook, and in particular the Spirit Warrior kit (since the Spirit Warrior was closest to the 1st edition Oriental Adventures ninja). That class sported the basic characteristics of a thief, plus chi powers and illusion spell ability.

LV BAB FO/RE/WI SPELLS SPECIAL
1 ±0 ±0/+2/±0 +1 LV Sneak attack +1d6, chi breath
2 +1 ±0/+3/±0 -- Poison use
3 +2 +1/+3/+1 +1 LV Sneak attack +2d6, uncanny dodge
4 +3 +1/+4/+1 -- Throw weapons
5 +3 +1/+4/+1 +1 LV Sneak attack +3d6, water walk 1/day
6 +4 +2/+5/+2 -- Death attack
7 +5 +2/+5/+2 +1 LV Sneak attack +4d6
8 +6 +2/+6/+2 -- --
9 +6 +3/+6/+3 +1 LV Sneak attack +5d6
10 +7 +3/+7/+3 -- Water walk 2/day, hide in plain sight
11 +8 +3/+7/+3 +1 LV Sneak attack +6d6
12 +9 +4/+8/+4 -- Passwall 1/day
13 +9 +4/+8/+4 +1 LV Sneak attack +7d6
14 +10 +4/+9/+4 -- --
15 +11 +5/+9/+5 +1 LV Sneak attack +8d6

Vitality Die: d6.

Requirements: BAB +3, Hide 7 ranks, Move Silently 7 ranks, Evasion, ability to cast 1st-level wizard spells, specialty in the school of illusion.

Class Skills: Climb, Jump, Swim (Str), Balance, Escape Artist, Hide, Move Silently, Open Lock, Sleight of Hand, Tumble, Use Rope (Dex), Craft, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Forgery, Search (Int), Listen, Profession, Spot (Wis), Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Perform (Cha).
Skill Points: 6 + Ind mod / level.

Proficiencies: All rogue and monk weapons, and light armor. Ninja can cast arcane spells in light armor with no chance of spell failure.
Sneak Attack, Poison Use, Uncanny Dodge, Death Attack, Hide in Plain Sight: As per the rogue and assassin abilities.
Chi Breath: The ninja adds his class level to constitution checks made to determine how long he can hold his breath.
Throw Weapons: A ninja may employ any melee weapon as a thrown ranged weapon at no penalty to hit.
Water Walk, Passwall: Spell-like abilities.

==========

The psychic warrior prestige class is a bit more incomplete, since the details on 3.5 psionics are still sketchy at best. Psionic combat seems to have been revised, so I have no need to mention combat modes on the special ability list. I may change the requirements if the wilder turns out to be significantly different from the psion, but until April, this is what I’m running on.

LV BAB FO/RE/WI PSIONICS SPECIAL
1 ±0 +2/+1/+1 -- Bonus feat
2 +1 +3/+2/+2 +1 LV Bonus feat
3 +2 +3/+2/+2 -- --
4 +3 +4/+2/+2 +1 LV --
5 +3 +4/+3/+3 +1 LV Bonus feat
6 +4 +5/+3/+3 +1 LV --
7 +5 +5/+4/+4 -- Bonus feat
8 +6 +6/+4/+4 +1 LV --
9 +6 +6/+4/+4 +1 LV --
10 +7 +7/+5/+5 +1 LV Bonus feat
11 +8 +7/+5/+5 +1 LV --
12 +9 +8/+6/+6 +1 LV Bonus feat
13 +9 +8/+6/+6 -- --
14 +10 +9/+6/+6 +1 LV --
15 +11 +9/+7/+7 +1 LV Bonus feat

Vitality Die: d8.

Requirements: BAB +4, Autohypnosis 2 ranks, Stabilize Self 2 ranks, Combat Manifestation, ability to manifest 1st-level psionic powers.

Proficiencies & Class Features: As standard psychic warrior.
Xeviat-DM
02-26-04, 05:34 PM I like your Psychic Warrior, but I don't think you should have the bonus feats so condenced like that at early levels. Core PWs get them at 1, 2, 5, 8 ... every 3 after, right? At level 5, a fighter2/psion3 will have 3 bonus feats (if you grant psions bonus feats like wizards, ala mindscape), so you don't really need to double stack the bonus feats on the PrC progression.

Also, since it is a PrC, there should be something Prestigious about it. Have them grow their psicrystal into a weapon of their choice (perhaps a weapon they're focused or specialized in). Have it act as an intelligent weapon with a high score equal to the intelligence that a psicrystal would have had at the appropriate level.

This is just me nitpicking though. I just don't like bland MC PrCs like the Eldritch Knight and Mystic Theurge, so I try to squelch them when ever I can.
LittleDevil
02-26-04, 05:38 PM Personally, I would change your Ninja a bit.

I'd increase the Hit Die to d8 and remove a few of the spellcasting levels (Though that's a personal preference based on how I view Ninjas), but that isn't what's important.

You need to rearrange the abilities a bit, as it's a bit frontloaded, and has too many levels where you don't gain anything and too many where you gain too much (Like level 3). Plus,there's no real use in taking levels in this class after 12 levels.

The PsyWar was rather good though.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jack Daniel 02-26-04, 03:41 PM	My D&D campaigns are usually very dichotomous when it comes to sacred cows vs. new ideas. I like for bards, paladins, and rangers to be rare, special classes like they were in AD&D. I like for rangers to be more like paladins than thieves. These are my sacred cows. On the other hand, I don’t mind changing a few things up. I re-title classes where it fits my setting (berserker, priest, and witch replacing barbarian, cleric, and druid, for example). I was using wounds, vitality, defense bonus, and action points long before UA was announced. I ripped the noble and the tech specialist from other sources and added them to the list of canon classes. Now that UA is out, I’ve been able to streamline my class system. It’s actually kind of cool how I’ve been able to make everything so symmetrical. I have twelve basic classes, divided into six magical and six non-magical classes. Of the non-magical classes, two are heavy warriors (the fighter & the berserker), two are light warriors (the monk & the noble), and two are skill experts (the rogue & the technologist). On the magic side, there are two divine spellcasters (the priest & the witch), two arcane spellcasters (the wizard & the sorcerer), and two psionicists (the psion & the wilder). Being the RPG classicist as I am, these six divisions might also be called the fighter, black-belt, thief, white-mage, black-mage, and red-mage groups… but I digress. :D Then there are the promotional classes. The bard and paladin I’ve left relatively unchanged from UA, except for an alteration to the bard’s requirements (since the 1e bard was essentially the first prestige class, a fighter/thief/druid combination, I allow prestige bards to progress on wizard, sorcerer, or witch spellcasting ability). The ranger needed some changes to bring the class up to snuff with the Aragorn/Drizzt/Minsc archetype so prevalent in all my games, but that’s not much of a stretch: Change vitality die from d8 to 10. Skill points fall to 4 + Int. Rangers must be good-aligned, and rangers don't get an archery feat-chain! Spell ability can be either witch or wizard based (rather than druid or cleric based… again, drawing on inspiration from 1st edition, back when rangers cast both druid and magic-user spells). ========== My ninja class is essentially derived from the 2nd edition version from the Complete Ninja’s Handbook, and in particular the Spirit Warrior kit (since the Spirit Warrior was closest to the 1st edition Oriental Adventures ninja). That class sported the basic characteristics of a thief, plus chi powers and illusion spell ability. LV BAB FO/RE/WI SPELLS SPECIAL 1 ±0 ±0/+2/±0 +1 LV Sneak attack +1d6, chi breath 2 +1 ±0/+3/±0 -- Poison use 3 +2 +1/+3/+1 +1 LV Sneak attack +2d6, uncanny dodge 4 +3 +1/+4/+1 -- Throw weapons 5 +3 +1/+4/+1 +1 LV Sneak attack +3d6, water walk 1/day 6 +4 +2/+5/+2 -- Death attack 7 +5 +2/+5/+2 +1 LV Sneak attack +4d6 8 +6 +2/+6/+2 -- -- 9 +6 +3/+6/+3 +1 LV Sneak attack +5d6 10 +7 +3/+7/+3 -- Water walk 2/day, hide in plain sight 11 +8 +3/+7/+3 +1 LV Sneak attack +6d6 12 +9 +4/+8/+4 -- Passwall 1/day 13 +9 +4/+8/+4 +1 LV Sneak attack +7d6 14 +10 +4/+9/+4 -- -- 15 +11 +5/+9/+5 +1 LV Sneak attack +8d6 Vitality Die: d6. Requirements: BAB +3, Hide 7 ranks, Move Silently 7 ranks, Evasion, ability to cast 1st-level wizard spells, specialty in the school of illusion. Class Skills: Climb, Jump, Swim (Str), Balance, Escape Artist, Hide, Move Silently, Open Lock, Sleight of Hand, Tumble, Use Rope (Dex), Craft, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Forgery, Search (Int), Listen, Profession, Spot (Wis), Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Perform (Cha). Skill Points: 6 + Ind mod / level. Proficiencies: All rogue and monk weapons, and light armor. Ninja can cast arcane spells in light armor with no chance of spell failure. Sneak Attack, Poison Use, Uncanny Dodge, Death Attack, Hide in Plain Sight: As per the rogue and assassin abilities. Chi Breath: The ninja adds his class level to constitution checks made to determine how long he can hold his breath. Throw Weapons: A ninja may employ any melee weapon as a thrown ranged weapon at no penalty to hit. Water Walk, Passwall: Spell-like abilities. ========== The psychic warrior prestige class is a bit more incomplete, since the details on 3.5 psionics are still sketchy at best. Psionic combat seems to have been revised, so I have no need to mention combat modes on the special ability list. I may change the requirements if the wilder turns out to be significantly different from the psion, but until April, this is what I’m running on. LV BAB FO/RE/WI PSIONICS SPECIAL 1 ±0 +2/+1/+1 -- Bonus feat 2 +1 +3/+2/+2 +1 LV Bonus feat 3 +2 +3/+2/+2 -- -- 4 +3 +4/+2/+2 +1 LV -- 5 +3 +4/+3/+3 +1 LV Bonus feat 6 +4 +5/+3/+3 +1 LV -- 7 +5 +5/+4/+4 -- Bonus feat 8 +6 +6/+4/+4 +1 LV -- 9 +6 +6/+4/+4 +1 LV -- 10 +7 +7/+5/+5 +1 LV Bonus feat 11 +8 +7/+5/+5 +1 LV -- 12 +9 +8/+6/+6 +1 LV Bonus feat 13 +9 +8/+6/+6 -- -- 14 +10 +9/+6/+6 +1 LV -- 15 +11 +9/+7/+7 +1 LV Bonus feat Vitality Die: d8. Requirements: BAB +4, Autohypnosis 2 ranks, Stabilize Self 2 ranks, Combat Manifestation, ability to manifest 1st-level psionic powers. Proficiencies & Class Features: As standard psychic warrior.
Xeviat-DM 02-26-04, 05:34 PM	I like your Psychic Warrior, but I don't think you should have the bonus feats so condenced like that at early levels. Core PWs get them at 1, 2, 5, 8 ... every 3 after, right? At level 5, a fighter2/psion3 will have 3 bonus feats (if you grant psions bonus feats like wizards, ala mindscape), so you don't really need to double stack the bonus feats on the PrC progression. Also, since it is a PrC, there should be something Prestigious about it. Have them grow their psicrystal into a weapon of their choice (perhaps a weapon they're focused or specialized in). Have it act as an intelligent weapon with a high score equal to the intelligence that a psicrystal would have had at the appropriate level. This is just me nitpicking though. I just don't like bland MC PrCs like the Eldritch Knight and Mystic Theurge, so I try to squelch them when ever I can.
LittleDevil 02-26-04, 05:38 PM	Personally, I would change your Ninja a bit. I'd increase the Hit Die to d8 and remove a few of the spellcasting levels (Though that's a personal preference based on how I view Ninjas), but that isn't what's important. You need to rearrange the abilities a bit, as it's a bit frontloaded, and has too many levels where you don't gain anything and too many where you gain too much (Like level 3). Plus,there's no real use in taking levels in this class after 12 levels. The PsyWar was rather good though.