Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me; Thy staff and thy rod, they comfort me.
Shepherd Class Description
Role: Defender. Through your own power and the gifts bestowed upon you by the gods, you keep your 'flock' safe from danger with sagacious guidance, constant vigilance, and a ready hand.
Power Source: Divine. You are granted power beyond mortal reach to tend to a flock of the Gods' choosing. Whether you are aware of this blessing or not your constancy, readiness, and courage have earned you the gifts of the divine.
Key Abilities: Wisdom and Constitution or Charisma
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, and Sling
Bonus to Defense: +1 Fortitude, +1 Reflex, +1 Will
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10+Constitution score
Hit Points per Level: 4
Healing Surges per Day: 5 + Constitution modifier
Trained Skills: You are trained in Religion. From the list below, choose 4 skills at 1st level.
Class Skills:
Atheletics (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Endurance (Con), Heal (Wis), History (Int), Insight (Wis), Intimidate(Cha), Nature (Int), Perception(Wis)
Build Options: Watching Shepherd, Tempering Shepherd
Class Features: Shepherd's Blessing, Earthly Grace, Mark of the Gods, Hand of the Gods
Shepherd Class Features
Shepherd's Blessing
You have been given a blessing by the powers divine. This blessing has taken one of two forms, the Blessing of Guidance or the Blessing of Perseverance. Select one of the following Blessings. Some powers have extra effects for different Blessings.
- Blessing of Guidance: You watch over your flock and in turn they steer away from danger. You gain a pool of Blessings equal to your 2+Charisma Modifier. You may spend one blessing to add 1 point to an ally's AC or to Fort, Ref, and Will against attacks by targets you have marked. As a free action at the beginning of your turn, you may distribute these points amongst your allies (but not yourself). At the beginning of your next turn these bonuses fade and you may redistribute them. At 11th level your pool of Blessings increases to 4+Charisma Modifier and 6+Charisma Modifier blessings at 21st level. You may use your Charisma modifier to Reflex defenses instead of Intelligence or Dexterity when you wear cloth armor.
- Blessing of Perseverance: You temper your flock against the hardships of the world. You gain a pool of Temporary Hit Points, that only apply to damage dealt by targets you have marked, equal to your 1/2 your Max Hitpoints+4. At the beginning of each round, you may distribute those temporary hit points amongst your allies (but not yourself). At the beginning of your next turn, those temporary hit points fade and you may redistribute them. At 11th level your pool increases to 1/2 your Max Hitpoints +8 and 1/2 your Max Hitpoints +12 at 21st level. You may use your Constitution modifier to Reflex defenses instead of Intelligence or Dexterity when you wear cloth armor.
Earthly Grace
You were not given divine gifts because of your extreme piety or dedication, but because you had some exceptional quality that singled you out as an ideal protector of the faithful, whichever faithful that may be. Select two of the following Earthly Graces.
- Strong of Arm: You're great strength in battle keeps beats back the wolves that would feed on your flock. You gain a +1 bonus to melee attacks with Clubs and Staffs and may use Wisdom instead of Strength for attack and damage with basic melee attacks. You treat Clubs and Staffs as Brutal 2 weapons.
- Sharp of Eye: You're penetrating gaze lets you head of the lions that would pounce and rend your flock. You gain a +1 bonus to ranged attacks with Slings and may use Wisdom instead of Dexterity for attack and damage with basic ranged attacks. You treat slings as 1d8 high-crit weapons.
- Stout of Heart: You're resolute courage keeps you between your flock and the wolves that would eat them. You gain a +1 bonus to all defenses.
Mark of the Gods
You chastise those that would do harm unto your flock with divine punishment. You radiate an Aura 3 of Divinity. You may Mark any enemy that enters the aura until the beginning of your next turn as an opportunity action. If a Marked enemy voluntarily leaves the aura or makes an attack that does not include you as a target, they take 4 radiant damage. Marked enemies take a -2 to attack on any attack roll that does not include you as a target. This increases to 8 radiant damage at 11th level and 12 radiant damage at 21st level.
Hand of the Gods
Given your humble standing in life, the Gods make special efforts to see to your safety, so that you may so to the safety of them and thiers. When you wear cloth armor and no shield, you may add your Wisdom modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier to AC. You also have a buffer of temporary hitpoints equal to one healing surge that renews each round.
New Keywords
Reproach: An attack with the Reproach keyword applies the Reproachment tag to the target. If the target makes an attack that doesn't target the creature that Reproached it, it grants combat advantage until the beginning of it's turn. Unlike debuffs that apply until the beginning of player's turn, Reproachment applies on the enemy's turn and lasts until the beginning of the enemies turn unless otherwise noted.
Class Powers
Marking Shot Shepherd Attack 1
As your stone strikes true, your target is bound to your might.
At-Will * Weapon, Reproach
Standard Action - Ranged Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage and the target is marked until the beginning of your next turn.
Special: If the target is already marked they are instead Reproached until the beginning of your next turn.
Increase to 2W+Wis Mod damage at 21st level.
Festering Shot Shepherd Attack 1
The target's wound festers in coorelation with their sins against your flock.
At-Will * Weapon, Necrotic
Standard Action - Ranged Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage. For each ally, other than yourself, the target damages before the beginning of your next turn it takes 3 necrotic damage.
Increase to 2W+Wis mod damage and 6 necrotic damage at 21st level.
Crooked Staff Shepherd Attack 1
You draw danger away from the flock.
At-Will * Weapon, Reproach
Standard Action - Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage and the target is Reproached until the beginning of your next turn. If the target is within reach of an ally you may Shift 2 squares and Slide your target to follow.
Blessing of Guidance: Shift Cha mod squares.
Increase to 2W+Wis mod damage at 21st level.
Heavy Rod Shepherd Attack 1
You fall upon your target with a vengence.
At-Will * Weapon
Standard Action - Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage. If the target is within reach of an ally, they take 1d6 radiant damage.
Blessing of Perseverance: 1d6+Con mod radiant damage.
Increase to 2W+Wis mod damage and 2d6 radiant damage at 21st level.
Encounter 1
Burdening Shot Shepherd Attack 1
You overburden your foe and blunt it's pointed teeth.
Encounter * Weapon
Standard Action - Ranged Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage and Immobilized until the beginning of your next turn. The target cannot make Opportunity Attacks until the beginning of your next turn.
Infuriating Shot Shepherd Attack 1
A single hit invokes a rage in your target, drawing it to you.
Encounter * Weapon
Standard Action - Ranged Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage and pull the target up to Wisdom Modifier squares.
Righteous Clout Shepherd Attack 1
Thou shalt have none of me and mine
Encounter * Weapon, Reproach
Standard Action - Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage.
Effect: Reproached (save-ends)
Smite Asunder Shepherd Attack 1
You violently separate an enemy and from your flock.
Encounter * Weapon
Standard Action - Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Wisdom vs. AC
Hit: 1W+Wis Mod damage.
Special: If the target is adjacent to an ally, you may slide each of them 1 square and shift to move between them.
Daily 1
Brilliant Wrath Shepherd Attack 1
The gods empower your mark with lasting effects.
Daily* Stance, Mark, Radiant
Minor Action
Effect: Until you exit your stance, all creatures marked by you take an additional 5 radiant damage from your Mark of the Gods.
Divine Reach Shepherd Attack 1
There is no one safe from your hand.
Daily* Stance, Mark
Minor Action
Effect: Until you exit your stance, your Aura of Divinity size increases by 1.
Chains of Faith Shepherd Attack 1
Those that earn your ire become strain against your bonds.
Daily* Stance, Mark
Minor Action
Effect: Until you exit your stance, all marked creatures within your Aura of Divinity are Slowed until the beginning of your next turn.
Dull the Eyes Shepherd Attack 1
You and you along exist to your foes.
Daily* Stance, Mark
Minor Action
Effect: Until you exit your stance, all allies (except yourself) gain concealment against marked creatures within your Aura of Divinity.
they're in light armor
so they'll need to pump up dex or int.
I'd rather see abilities that let them add con or cha to their AC instead
They don't really need the extra AC from Dex or Int, since they have a class feature that gives them +2/+4/+6 AC which scales with tier and Temp HP equal to their healing surge that REGENERATES at the beginning of their turn. This is a defender with low hp but definitely not low survival rates, and a very unique marking scheme (which uses OAs instead of attacks or minor actions).
That said, I think Strong of Arm and Sharp of Eye might be a bit much. I understand promoting low quality weapons, but I somehow think it's off (no calculations to back up my words, just a gut feeling). Could you show the effects those features would do to the Shepherd's DPS? If it's within range of what a defender can do, then it's balanced, since this class needs something to say "HIT ME", and making stronger melee basic attacks would really help in that matter.
They don't really need the extra AC from Dex or Int, since they have a class feature that gives them +2/+4/+6 AC which scales with tier and Temp HP equal to their healing surge that REGENERATES at the beginning of their turn. This is a defender with low hp but definitely not low survival rates, and a very unique marking scheme (which uses OAs instead of attacks or minor actions).
That said, I think Strong of Arm and Sharp of Eye might be a bit much. I understand promoting low quality weapons, but I somehow think it's off (no calculations to back up my words, just a gut feeling). Could you show the effects those features would do to the Shepherd's DPS? If it's within range of what a defender can do, then it's balanced, since this class needs something to say "HIT ME", and making stronger melee basic attacks would really help in that matter.
It's not that they're going to need the AC from dex or int to get by.
It's that to optimize they'll want to put some points into either dex or int which is a little odd.
as to strong of arm the best you can get is +3 to hit and 1d8 brutal 2. Which isn't really OP. (a touch more than a bastard sword but with less feat options)
I said it in the other thread, but I'll say it again here. Very Cool. I tend to play defenders, so interesting twists on the role are always welcome, now if only I could convince my group that Homebrew doesn't mean evil.
I said it in the other thread, but I'll say it again here. Very Cool. I tend to play defenders, so interesting twists on the role are always welcome, now if only I could convince my group that Homebrew doesn't mean evil.
most homebrew is only at alpha level build quality so yeah, hard to convince people. You can only really play test homebrew classes.
Hard to judge without seeing the rest of the class... so far it seems like a divine striker with defender or controller as secondary roles. He doesn't have the defensive abilities that a defender normally gets, nor does he have any lockdown abilities that defenders sometimes use. So far, I see him being a mobile attacker with some battlefield control and a couple of marking abilities. Great for flavor, but as a defender I think the mechanics need to be tweaked a little.
Two problems I can point out immediately.
One is that your weapon proficiencies are way too restrictive. Considering Rods can't even be used for melee attacks (except for one or two magic ones which would be useless anyway since you can't use its property unless you can use rods as an implement), that basically leaves a 1st level Shepard with a Sling and a Staff... which is fine if you want to be a carbon copy of King David (which is obviously what you're going for), but that gives you almost nill as far as options.
Secondly, you're going to need a WAY better reason for enemies to hit this dude than Hand of the Gods. As it stands, at 1st level, this guy could have a maximum AC of 18 and a regenerating stock of temp HP. 3 damage is not nearly enough to convince any monster with half a brain to waste their attacks on this guy when they can only hit him on a 14 and up, and even if they do they'd basically have to roll max damage to get through his regenerating temp shield.
The concept is okay, but I think you definitely need to make him more sticky, or else everyone's just going to ignore the shepard and tear his flock to shreds.
@Chameleon-X
read the blessing section of the class features
and the reproach attack keyword
I think if you gave the Crooked Staff the reproachful effect, it would make it more likely to follow a defender. the only power that has the reproachful keyword is a ranged attack. If you can do it it melee and pull your enemies around, its much more likely to want to attack you instead of the juicy wizard throwing magic missles at it. You could also make a 4th Earthly grace to make it balanced between two attack graces and 2 defensive graces.
Knowing Inspiration
You know how to best defend against your foes on an instinctual basis. You can add your wisdom modifier to AC in place of dexterity or intelligence; if you wear any armor heavier then cloth you do not gain benefit of this blessing.
Two problems I can point out immediately.
One is that your weapon proficiencies are way too restrictive. Considering Rods can't even be used for melee attacks (except for one or two magic ones which would be useless anyway since you can't use its property unless you can use rods as an implement), that basically leaves a 1st level Shepard with a Sling and a Staff... which is fine if you want to be a carbon copy of King David (which is obviously what you're going for), but that gives you almost nill as far as options.
Secondly, you're going to need a WAY better reason for enemies to hit this dude than Hand of the Gods. As it stands, at 1st level, this guy could have a maximum AC of 18 and a regenerating stock of temp HP. 3 damage is not nearly enough to convince any monster with half a brain to waste their attacks on this guy when they can only hit him on a 14 and up, and even if they do they'd basically have to roll max damage to get through his regenerating temp shield.
The concept is okay, but I think you definitely need to make him more sticky, or else everyone's just going to ignore the shepard and tear his flock to shreds.
Do I still have Rod up there in weapon proficiencies? In one of my initial builds that involved implements, you could use the Rod and Staff implements, and could treat a rod as a club. I'll change that to club.
Humble weaponry is indeed what I'm going for, I suppose Simple Melee would work though, as none of those are especially amazing and the buffs to these specific weapons helps.
Also, Encounter 1 and Daily 1 is up.