Revised Tempest

[comrade raoul]

Along with many others, I think the Tempest prestige class in Masters of the Wild offers too little, too late. Is this version balanced? (Note that revisions to requirements and class skills are noted in parenthetical italics; revisions to class features aren't noted, since the section is more or less entirely overhauled).

Requirements: To qualify as a tempest, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +6
(lowered from +9)
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, and Weapon Finesse (any one-handed melee weapon) or Weapon Focus (any one-handed melee weapon or double weapon)
Special: Ability to fight with two weapons with the benefits of the Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting feats while wearing light armor (this may result from actually having the appropriate feats, or by taking levels in a class, such as the ranger, that grants them as virtual feats).
(Changed the weapon requirement from "Any"; tempests should be good at weapons they can use with the class abilities.)

Class Skills
The tempest's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex)*, Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex)*, Ride (Dex), Tumble (Dex)*, and Wilderness Lore (Wis).
(Skills marked with an asterisk are added; the tempest is an agile class and should have some good movement-oriented skills.)
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Base Attack Bonus: Excellent (as fighter)
Strong Saves: Reflex
(Changed from Fortitude; again, the tempest should feel more like an "agile" class.)

Class Features
1st - Improved two-weapon fighting
2nd - Superior ambidexterity (full strength bonus)
3rd - Whirling defense (+2)
4th - Twin strike
5th - Superior ambidexterity (+1)
6th - Greater two-weapon fighting
7th - Whirling defense (+4)
8th - Superior ambidexterity (+2)
9th - Improved twin strike
10th - Perfect two-weapon fighting

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Tempests gain no weapon or armor proficiencies. They may not use their Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Superior Ambidexterity, Whirling Defense, Twin Strike, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, or Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting abilities when wearing medium or heavy armor.
(Note that this requirement has been loosened: previously, tempests were limited to light or no armor, and couldn't use their class features with double weapons.)

Improved Two-Weapon Fighting: Beginning at first level, the tempest may fight with two weapons as if she had the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat.

Superior Ambidexterity (Ex): Beginning at second level, the tempest may add her full strength bonus to damage rolls with her off-hand. At fifth level, she may also reduce her attack penalties for fighting with two weapons by 1; at 8th level, she may reduce it by 2. Thus, if she fights with a light weapon in her off-hand, she suffers no penalties on her attack roll for fighting with two weapons. (If the off-hand weapon is not light, she suffers a -2 penalty on attack rolls with both her primary hand and off-hand).

Whirling Defense (Ex): At 3rd level, the tempest may designate a single opponent at the beginning of her action when fighting with two weapons. Until her next action, she gains a +2 armor bonus to her AC against that opponent as she uses her two weapons to frustrate his attacks. This is treated as though it were a bonus from a shield: it stacks with bonuses from existing armor, but not with armor bonuses from shields. At 7th level, the tempest gains a second +2 armor bonus, and may apply each bonus the same foe (gaining a total +4 armor bonus) or a different one (for a +2 bonus against each).

Twin Strike (Ex): At 4th level, a tempest gains the ability to perform a twin strike on a standard attack or an attack of opportunity, when she would not normally be able to attack with her off-hand weapon. When using this ability, she may make two attacks (one with each of her weapons); however, she makes her off-hand attack at a -5 penalty. A tempest may use this ability in conjunction with the Spring Attack feat, combining her two attacks with her movement in any way she chooses (she may move, attack, move, attack again, and move). At 9th level, she may use this ability without penalty to her off-hand attack.

Greater Two-Weapon Fighting: Beginning at 6th level, the tempest may fight with two weapons as if she had the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat.

Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting: At 10th level, the tempest may fight with two weapons as if she had the Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting feat.

Edited to according to suggestions and commentary from kreynolds, Anabstercorian, Cyraneth, and Plane Sailing, as below.

[kreynolds]

Whirling Defense...personally, I think it would be better suited as a deflection bonus.

Twin Strike...I honestly don't think the penalty to attack rolls is necessary for a standard attack, even at 4th level. For an AoO, I think -5 is a little too stiff. Maybe -3, or even -2 if you're feeling generous. It'd still be cool though if the penalties for AoOs disappeared at 9th. It's a slick ability, but I don't think it's slick enough for -5 at any point.

All in all, very well designed prestige class. It's somewhat similar to Caliban's Bladestorm Adept, but the differences are varied enough that two players, one with his and one with yours, would be a terrifying sight to behold indeed. Well done.

[comrade raoul]

I'm glad you like the revisions. As for your suggestions:

I think I'll keep the Twin Strike penalty at -5, but limit it to the off-hand (that is, the attack with the primary hand is always made at no penalty, and the off-hand penalty is eliminated at 9th level).

I can see the appeal for the deflection bonus, but I'd like the Whirling Defense bonus to stay a dodge bonus for two reasons. First, deflection bonuses usually come from magical sources (like shield of faith or rings of protection), rather than defensive techniques (like Expertise or the original tempest's Off-Hand Parry, both of which provide dodge bonuses). Also, dodge bonuses always stack -- whereas it would seem awkward for a tempest to put on a magic ring and have his defensive skills become less useful. Conceptually, consider whirling defense to involve the tempest's skill at avoiding blows not only by parrying them with his weapons, but also with an impressive sort of spinning, weaving, and feinting routine.

Also -- Caliban's bladestorm adept sounds interesting. Got a link?

[kreynolds]

Originally posted by comrade raoul
Got a link?

Yup. Right here.

[comrade raoul]

(see the bottom post for the new attachment)

[comrade raoul]

Any other thoughts?

[Anabstercorian]

Why not making Whirling Defense a Shield Bonus? It makes sense, and it's not likely to interfere with any other equipment the character might carry...

[Cyraneth]

Originally posted by Anabstercorian
Why not making Whirling Defense a Shield Bonus? It makes sense, and it's not likely to interfere with any other equipment the character might carry...

I was about to suggest the same thing. The Twin Sword Style feat from the FRCS grants an armor bonus similar to the shield bonus... I mean, a deflection or dodge bonus would work against touch attacks. A sword shouldn't be able to deflect what a shield couldn't. Balance-wise, that is... I understand that the Off-Hand Parry feat grants a dodge bonus, IIRC, but shouldn't that have been a armor (shield) bonus too? Anyway, just a suggestion of mine...

- Cyraneth

[comrade raoul]

Okay, I'm convinced. The prestige class has been revised accordingly (as has the attached version).

[comrade raoul]

the most recent revision is attached below; it's a nicely formatted .pdf for use in campaigns.

[Plane Sailing]

Questions:

1. The spring attack chain seems particularly strange, since the essence of spring attack is that it prevents you getting a full attack off... and the tempest is fundamentally about getting full attacks! Wouldn't expertise have made more sense?

2. You don't mention whether ranger virtual feats allow him to qualify? I presume so. Since a ranger loses his virtual feats when in medium+ armour, and thus loses the pre-reqs, does he lose tempest class abilities or do you see the tempest ability to use this stuff in medium armour as overriding that?

3. The large number of feats mean that a fighter could qualify after level 6, a human ranger could qualify after level 6, a nonhuman ranger could qualify at level 9, human paladins and barbarians at level 12 and nonhuman paladins and barbarians at level 15(!)

Cheers

[comrade raoul]

Originally posted by Plane Sailing
Questions:
1. The spring attack chain seems particularly strange, since the essence of spring attack is that it prevents you getting a full attack off... and the tempest is fundamentally about getting full attacks! Wouldn't expertise have made more sense?

Now, the short answer is that the spring attack chain was there in the original version, and it wasn't something I saw as needing pressing revision. On the other hand, I do think it makes some sense; tempests are suppposed to be skilled, mobile fighters -- something the spring attack chain models effectively. Moreover, one of the main advantages of the revised version was that it provides special abilities that enable you to make off-hand attacks when not making a full attack, so my version of the tempest will be able to put both spring attack and two-weapon skills (like whirling defense and superior ambidexterity) to use simultaneously. But yes, without this ability, I do think expertise would've made more sense.

2. You don't mention whether ranger virtual feats allow him to qualify? I presume so. Since a ranger loses his virtual feats when in medium+ armour, and thus loses the pre-reqs, does he lose tempest class abilities or do you see the tempest ability to use this stuff in medium armour as overriding that?

This certainly is confusing, and it's not handled explicitly in my account. Probably, the best solution is to return to the original class and limit the tempest's abilities to light armor. This might weaken the tempest somewhat, but if agility is so conceptually important to the class, it's not that bad, and whirling defense is powerful enough so that I don't worry about the tempest being defensively weak.

3. The large number of feats mean that a fighter could qualify after level 6, a human ranger could qualify after level 6, a nonhuman ranger could qualify at level 9, human paladins and barbarians at level 12 and nonhuman paladins and barbarians at level 15(!)

Yes, that's about the way it goes (note that at 9th level, characters with a rogue-like BAB can meet the BAB requirement; at 12th, so can wizards and sorcerers). Some prestige classes require a lot of feats to qualify for; it's hardly new. Note that this will be somewhat eased in 3.5e, when Ambidexterity is built into Two-Weapon Fighting (I think this demands house rules of its own, as I discuss here.)

Anyway, thanks for the intelligent, thoughtful questions and the post.