Bravo base class

[Chronologist]

The Bravo is an Idea I've been cooking up for the past week or so; I've been trying to create a class that really pulls of a party leader and tactical support role, while being fun for the player. Bard is too much of a generalist, and the marshal has very little actual party support IMO. So, here is what I've come up with so far.

Bravo

A Bravo is a warrior of exceptional ability, not due to formal training or raw ability, but from the zest they bring to combat. A Bravo can usually be seen racing around the battlefield, drawing men with her as she cuts a swath through enemy lines.

Adventures: Bravos see adventuring as the ultimate form of thrill-seeking, and are almost always either in an adventure or looking for a new one.

Characteristics: A Bravo relies on luck and speed more than brute force. They generally harry their enemies instead of standing still and trading blows.

Alignment: Bravos can be found in any alignment, though most are non-evil. Also, the practiced nature of law clashes with a bravo’s spontaneous nature, so almost all Bravos are non-lawful.

Religion: Bravos follow many deities, but they favor gods of travel, since they are always on the move.

Background: Bravos learn their unique fighting style through a series of unrelated fights; there is no set path to being a Bravo.

Races: Bravos are common among Humans, Elves, Half-Elves, and other mobile races. Few dwarves or gnomes become Bravos.

Other Classes: Bravos work well with practically every class.

Role: Bravos fight in the front lines in a fight, fighting side by side with the Fighter and the Cleric. However, they are at their best when they can move around the enemies’ flank, catching it off-guard and getting into flanking position.


Game Rule Information
Abilities: A Bravo's Intelligence modifier is very important for several of his class features. Ranged Bravos use Dexterity, and melee Bravos require high Strength and Constitution.
Alignment: Any, favoring good and chaos.
Hit Die: d8

Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Heal, Jump, Knowledge(History), Knowledge (Battle), Tumble.
Skill Points at 1st level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: (4 + Int modifier)

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bravos are proficient with light and medium armor, with shields, and with simple and martial weapons.

Inspiration: All allies within 30 ft get the listed bonus to their attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks, and Will saves as long as the Bravo is fighting.

Sudden Tactics: A Bravo does not provoke an attack of opportunity from making the following maneuvers: Sunder, Trip, Disarm, Grapple, Bull Rush, Unarmed Strike, Feint, and Overrun attempts.

Alacrity: At 2nd level Bravos improve their base land speed by 10 feet.

Flow of Battle: A Bravo of second level or higher adds his Intelligence modifier to all Dexterity-based skill checks and Jump checks.

Spontaneous Tactician: At 3rd level, a Bravo is so used to using tactics in combat that they are all second nature to him. A Bravo can make Sunder, Trip, Disarm, Grapple, Bull Rush, Unarmed Strike, Feint, and Overrun attempts as a free action once per round in any round he moved 10 or more feet, or took a move action to move (ie. stand up).

Heroics: Once per day at 4th level and every 6 levels after that (10th, 16th), a Bravo can choose to re-roll any attack, damage, save, or skill check, taking the second result instead of the first. The Bravo then doubles his Inspiration bonus to Attack and Damage rolls for a number of rounds equal to 3 + his Intelligence modifier

Tactical Strike: At 6th, 11th, and 16th level, a Bravo adds 1d8 damage to any attack roll made against an enemy he has used a tactical maneuver against, and adds his Intelligence modifier damage to each die.

Freedom of Movement: At 8th level, a Bravo is an expert at getting around obstacles, through terrain, and around enemies. He is considered to have the Freedom of Movement spell on at all times.

Group Tactics: Once per encounter per time listed, a Bravo can grant all allies within 10 feet of him an immediate standard or move action. This can only be used to move, draw weapons, make attack rolls and use tactical feats, not to cast spells of any kind or activate spell-like abilities.

Mass Free Movement: At 15th level all allies within a Bravo’s Inspiration range gain the effects of his Free Movement ability.

Master Tactician: A Bravo of 20th level has become a master of tactical combat. He now adds his Intelligence modifier to the attack and damage rolls of all allies (and himself) within the range of his Inspiration class feature.

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +0 +0 +2 +0 Inspiration (+1), Sudden Tactics
2 +1 +0 +3 +0 Flow of Battle, Alacrity
3 +2 +1 +3 +1 Spontaneous Tactician
4 +3 +1 +4 +1 Heroics 1/day
5 +3 +1 +4 +1 Inspiration (+2)
6 +4 +2 +5 +2 Tactical Strike +1d8
7 +5 +2 +5 +2
8 +6/+1 +2 +6 +2 Free Movement
9 +6/+1 +3 +6 +3 Inspiration (+3)
10 +7/+2 +3 +7 +3 Heroics 2/day
11 +8/+3 +3 +7 +3 Tactical Strike +2d8
12 +9/+4 +4 +8 +4
13 +9/+4 +4 +8 +4 Inspiration (+4)
14 +10/+5 +4 +9 +4 Group Tactics 1/encounter
15 +11/+6/+1 5 +9 5 Mass Free Movement
16 +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Heroics 3/day, Tactical Strike +3d8
17 +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Inspiration (+5)
18 +13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +6 Group Tactics 2/encounter
19 +14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +6
20 +15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +6 Master Tactician

its medium attack bonus is compensated by the Inspiration class feature so it has the same "to hit" bonus as a Fighter, but it also passively enhances the attack and damage bonuses of it allies, filling the "buff" role a Bard usually takes. The fact that many of its abilities rely on moving each round means that it only gets one attack per round, plus a Feint/Disarm/Other maneuver, so the Tactical Strike class feature compensates somewhat.

Any and all feedback is fine; I personally think it's a little too strong, but I dislike levels with no class features, and I was trying to minimize that in this class.

Here are some feats I've also cooked up for the Bravo

Tactical Feats

Improved Inspiration
Requires: Inspiration +2 class feature
Benefits: The range of the Bravo’s Inspiration class feature extends to 60 feet.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times. Each time, the range increases by 30 feet.

Enduring Inspiration
Requires: Inspiration +1 class feature
Benefits: The Inspiration bonus now adds to Fortitude saves as well as Will saves.

Mobile Inspiration
Requires: Inspiration +1 class feature
Benefits: The Inspiration bonus now adds to Reflex saves as well as Will saves.

Spell Inspiration
Requires: Inspiration +1 class feature
Benefits: The Inspiration bonus now adds to a spellcaster’s caster level for the purposes of damage and overcoming spell resistance.

Press the Advantage
Requires: Spontaneous Tactician class feature
Benefits: After using a tactical maneuver on an enemy, a Bravo adds his Intelligence modifier to his next damage roll.

Defensive Manuever
Requires: Spontaneous Tactician class feature, level 6
Benefits: After using a tactical maneuver on an enemy, a Bravo adds one third of his level to his armor class as an Inspiration bonus.

Against All Odds
Requires: Bravo level 9
Benefits: A Bravo grants all allies (and himself) within range of his Inspiration class feature with a special ability. All allies gain a bonus to their armor class equal to the number of enemies attacking them over 1. In addition, enemies get no benefit from flanking them.

 

[Chronologist]

Reviews, comments anyone? Am I not posting this in the right place? Any feedback would be nice...

 

[Celebrim]

It's not iconic enough for me. You'd have to stretch to come up with alot of instances of Bravo's in fiction.

It's also not very flexible. It's like a prestige class written up as a core class. How many different kinds of Bravo's does reading the text cause you to imagine? How many different personalities for Bravo's are there?

I'd have to see how some of it played. I'm really leery of the abilities that grant extra actions though - Spontaneous Tactician just scares me as a DM. I think it is way too powerful of an ability to have before 6th level, and possibly before 11th level. You've got a character that is essentially making two attacks per round starting at 3rd level. If you really like the concept, I'd suggest not giving 'Spontaneous Tactician' until at least 6th level, and instead of front loading the class by making all tactics not draw an AoO allow the Bravo to choose one tactic at 1st level and 1 additional tactic every two levels.

Tactical Strike needs to be reworded for clarity and to conform to the language of the rules.

Freedom of Movement is a pretty powerful effect to have always on. Perhaps it is my bias, but I consider the spell too powerful as it is, and would be inclined to tone it down rather than spread it around.

I rather dislike that this is a pure martial class without full BAB progression.

 

[Chronologist]

Thanks for the comments, Celebrim.

First, Bravos in fiction, just think of any warrior in a movie that pulls off stunts against his enemies. Think Achilles from Troy. He'd frequently grab his enemies and use them as shields, parry attacks, and knock people down. Also think of Ajax from that movie, it's pretty much the same thing.

THe Bravo is, to me, a pretty flexible class. It can be specialized in sword-and-board fighting, two-handed weapons, and even ranged weapons. As concepts go, you have mercenary leaders, military commanders, and pretty much any military figure that leads his troops from the front lines. Yes, it could be a prestige class, but so could, arguably, the druid. After all, take a lv. 5 cleric and go into a prestige class that gives you wild shaping and presto! But it's more that that, isn't it? Just like how a Bravo is more than just a fancy fighter prestige class.

Spontaneous Tactician can't be used for attacks that deal damage, so it's not an extra attack, it's more like a move than grants you a situational bonus against your opponent.

I though about giving them multiple feats for tactics, but then they'd get the +4 bonus, and that's a little too strong. They don't get any bonus to tactical maneuvers. Also, the class is based around tactical mobility, move-action tactic and standard attack means no ability to move in a round. That's a route I'd rather not take.

Tactical Strike basically means, it you trip/disarm/etc. an opponent that round, you add the listed dice to your damage roll that round against that opponent. So you trip an enemy, then standard attack him for damage. The tactic does NO damage.

Freedom of Movement is mostly just to help with terrain. They still provoke AoO each time they move out of or through a threatened square. I may change it so they ignore terrain instead.

If the class had full BAB it'd be too strong, besides, I want to make it so that if they decide to full attack, they get noticeably fewer attacks that a Fighter.

Thank for the comments, and keep them coming!

Chronologist

 

[Celebrim]

Thanks for the comments, Celebrim.

First, Bravos in fiction, just think of any warrior in a movie that pulls off stunts against his enemies. Think Achilles from Troy. He'd frequently grab his enemies and use them as shields, parry attacks, and knock people down. Also think of Ajax from that movie, it's pretty much the same thing.

Haven't seen the movie, so can't comment on your example. Since I would think of Achilles as an iconic fighter, I'm not certain how I'd differentiate iconic bravo's from iconic fighters. The closest I can get to what you seem to be going for is the iconic figure of the foolish or comic samurii (often a peasant feigning noble birth) whose antic disposition and wild attacks bely his deadliness and who serves as inspiration for the samurii troop. (For example, Kikuchiyo from 'Seven Samurai').

Yes, it could be a prestige class, but so could, arguably, the druid. After all, take a lv. 5 cleric and go into a prestige class that gives you wild shaping and presto! But it's more that that, isn't it?

Is it? You've kinda hit upon a particular sore spot for me, in that druid is one of my least favorite base classes. I much prefer a more generic 'shaman' class that is cross-cultural, and to use feats or class features to work the base class into a particular idea of the more generic 'shaman'.

Spontaneous Tactician can't be used for attacks that deal damage, so it's not an extra attack, it's more like a move than grants you a situational bonus against your opponent.

I don't agree. The manuevers normally require at least an attack action. Between 'Spontaneous Tactician' and 'Sudden Tactics', you've got a third level character with access to 'Improved Feint', 'Improved Overrun', 'Improved Sunder', and 'Improved Disarm' - and he gets to make an extra attack action almost as if he's hasted. The fact that they don't deal damage directly doesn't negate this fact. And things get alot sicker when you combine them with feats or abilities that do let the manuevers do damage. For example, combined with 'Improved Trip', the 6th level Bravo could charge an opponent, trip the opponent for free, make a follow up attack that does Bravo bonus damage (+1d8+Int), and then make a regular attack that also does Bravo bonus damage (+1d8+Int). It would be almost like charging and getting two hits that both deal criticals. And the foe is also prone, which means it can't respond with a full attack action.

Tactical Strike basically means, it you trip/disarm/etc. an opponent that round, you add the listed dice to your damage roll that round against that opponent.

I got that part. What I mean is that it should be specified as bonus damage (thus not subject to multipliers if you critical) and you should make it clear just how often you add that int bonus. 'Per die' is vague: +int damage per attack (so Tactical strike +3d8, with int 20 would do +3d8+5)
, or +int damage per level of 'Tactical Strike' (so Tactical strike +3d8, with int 20 would do +3d8+15), or does 'per die' mean to every die you throw when calculating damage so a two-handed sword is clearly better than a battle axe and sneak attack just rocks in combination with tactical strike?

Freedom of Movement is mostly just to help with terrain. They still provoke AoO each time they move out of or through a threatened square. I may change it so they ignore terrain instead.

Freedom of movement grants multiple immunities (to paralyzation, to grappling, etc.). I dislike immunities to begin with, much less one effect that grants multiple ones. If you only want to make difficult terrain easier to deal with, say exactly what you mean. And whatever you do, I prefer even a very large bonus (+10?, +20?) to a flat immunity.

If the class had full BAB it'd be too strong, besides, I want to make it so that if they decide to full attack, they get noticeably fewer attacks that a Fighter.

Until 'Master Tactician' comes along at 20th level, I'm not sure that at higher levels it wouldn't be too weak. It suffers from much the same problems as a high level rogue, in that you have to be pretty optimized to hit the AC of a CR equivalent foe at higher levels, plus it has much fewer skill points and nothing quite so grossly effective as a high level rogues sneak attack (+10d6 damage).

However, if 'Inspiration' also effects the Bravo himself (I'm not clear on that), then he effectively has full BAB progression already and he's fine.

At present, I see it primarily as a dip class for certain fighter builds, who'll take three levels of the class to get the awesome power of 'Spontaneous Tactician'.

 

[Chronologist]

Celebrium,

First, thanks for the comments.

Second, I think that an inspirational fighter is iconic enough for a base class. Warlocks, Spirit Shamans, Swashbucklers, Ninjas, Favored Souls, there are TONS of classes out there that could be composed of mix-and-matching classes and feats. The Bravo seems, to me, to be unique enough from a normal fighter or bard to be and independent full class.

As to Sudden Tactics and Spontaneous Tactics, yes, they are too powerful so I nerfed the class a little.

So, here is (albeit with terrible formating):

Bravo 1.2


Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special............................Tactics
1 +0 +0 +2 +0 Inspiration (+1/+1), Alacrity ............2
2 +1 +0 +3 +0 Flow of Battle..................................3
3 +2 +1 +3 +1 Press the Advantage +1
4 +3 +1 +4 +1 .................................................. 4
5 +3 +1 +4 +1 Inspiration (+2/+1)
6 +4 +2 +5 +2 Tactical Strike +1d8.........................5
7 +5 +2 +5 +2 Rallying Cry 1/day
8 +6/+1 +2 +6 +2 Press the Advantage +2..............6
9 +6/+1 +3 +6 +3 Inspiration (+3/+2)
10 +7/+2 +3 +7 +3 ........................................... 7
11 +8/+3 +3 +7 +3 Tactical Strike +2d8
12 +9/+4 +4 +8 +4 ............................................8
13 +9/+4 +4 +8 +4 Inspiration (+4/+2)
14 +10/+5 +4 +9 +4 Rallying Cry 2/day
15 +11/+6/+1 5 +9 5 Press the Advantage +3............9
16 +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Tactical Strike +3d8
17 +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Inspiration (+5/+3)
18 +13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +6 ...................................10
19 +14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +6 Press the Advantage +4
20 +15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +6 Master Tactician.............11



Tactics: A Bravo knows a certain number of tactical abilities. At first level a Bravo knows 2 tactics, and at each listed level he learns another one. The tactics are listed below:

Disarm
Feint
Trip
Bull Rush
Overrun
Sunder

He can perform a tactic a number of times per encounter equal to half his level (rounded up) plus his intelligence modifier. This action does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Performing a tactic in this way is a swift action. If you trip an opponent in this way, you do not get an immediate attack. You can also choose instead to receive any feat with the (Tactical) descriptor, or to gain a +4 bonus to uses with a particular tactic. You can only enhance a tactic in this way once, and it does NOT stack with the Improved (name here) feat.

Inspiration: All allies within 30 feet (and the Bravo) get the first bonus to their attack and damage rolls and the second bonus to their Will saves as long as the Bravo is fighting.

Sudden Tactics: A Bravo does not provoke an attack of opportunity from making the following maneuvers: Sunder, Trip, Disarm, Grapple, Bull Rush, Unarmed Strike, Feint, and Overrun attempts.

Alacrity: A Bravo improves his base land speed by 10 feet as long as he wears no armor, light or medium armor and carrying less than a heavy load.

Flow of Battle: A Bravo of second level or higher adds half his level to dexterity-based checks and Jump checks.

Press the Advantage: At 3rd level a Bravo is good at getting the most out of the terrain, and rarely leaves openings for enemies. He now adds +1 to attack rolls against enemies he has tactical advantage against (for example, prone, he has an elevation bonus, charging. etc.) and enemies take -1 to their tactical modifiers against him (flanking, they have elevation, he is prone, etc.). This improved to +2 at 8th level, +3 at 15th level, and +4 at 19th level. This bonus does not stack with itself if a Bravo has more than one advantage (for example, a Bravo is attacking a prone opponent who just charged).

Tactical Strike: At 6th, 11th, and 16th level, a Bravo adds 1d8 damage to any attack roll made against an enemy he has used a tactical maneuver against, and adds his Intelligence modifier damage to damage (but only one dice of damage.

Rallying Cry: A Bravo of 7th level of higher can give a rallying cry that gives his allies a second wind. Each ally within range of his Inspiration class feature may make another saving throw against any ongoing effect (for example, poisons, charm effects, ongoing damage from a magical source) with a competence bonus equal to his Charisma modifier. Then the allies heal a number of hit points equal to the Bravo’s level times his Charisma modifier. A Bravo may use this ability an additional time each day at 14th level.

Master Tactician: A Bravo of 20th level has become a master of tactical combat. He now adds his Intelligence modifier to the attack and damage rolls of all allies (and himself) within the range of his Inspiration class feature.


Sudden Tactics and Spontaneous Tactics have been replaced by having a number of tactics known instead and letting them be used as a swift action a limited number of times per combat. This I feel is the best balancing factor.

Inspiration is now precisely worded so that it DOES give the Bravo the bonus, so, as you said, no BAB issue anymore. It also gives a lesser bonus to Will saves, more comparable to a Barbarian's raging bonus.

Alacrity bumped down to 1st level.

Flow of battle now gives smaller initial bonus, but greater over time.

Press the Advantage replaces Free Movement and Mass Free movement, as well as Group Tactics. It only affects the Bravo, and it's a minor bonus that won't usually come into play, but seriously rewards players for finding terrain bonuses in a fight.

Tactical Strike is a static bonus, it only applies once to damage, so Tactical Strike 2d8 only gets Int added, not 2xInt.

As for high level, well, a fighter has the same problem. I'm not trying to completely fix the melle vs. magic balance here. Besides, if I mad them stronger at higher levels, they'd end up being far stronger than a Fighter, IMO.

So, what do you think? I think the overhaul is pretty nice, but there's still a ways to go.

Chronologist