GnomeWorks said:
For Frightful Presence, I think 5d6 rounds is a little excessive.
I took the duration straight from the SRD glossary description of Frightful Presence, though I agree that it might be a bit too much. I think the main reason for such long duration is the fact that the most prominent creatures with the ability are the true dragons, for which such a long duration indeed makes sense.
Maybe 2d6 + the Grim Reaper's Charisma bonus would be better?
My initial reaction to Reaper's Blade was that it was overpowered... however, the scythe must be bonded, and this ability is gained at 10th, whereas Improved Crit is available at 8th. In addition, this ability is Su, meaning that it can be counteracted by some things, whereas Improved Crit cannot. So that ability is fine.
I was first indeed considering just giving the Improved Critical feat with the cave-at at it must be applied to a scythe type that the Grim Reaper already has the Weapon Focus feat with. But then I realised that I was giving feat equivalents almost every level, and decided to tone it down a bit.
Skeletal Steed is fine... it's roughly equivalent to a paladin's mount, gained at a much later level (11th at earliest).
Indeed, a Blackguard gains their Fiendish Servant at the same level.
I disagree with the proficiencies gained. Scythe proficiency should be a requirement, and this class should not gain any armor proficiencies or proficiency with shields. It doesn't quite fit the flavor of a dark scythe-wielder, in my opinion.
An Arcane Archer gains proficiency with all Simple and Martial Weapons, Light and Medium Armor, and Shields. I think we both agree that shield proficiency doesn't make sense for an archer, but there it is.
As Weapon Focus requires proficiency with the chosen weapon, the character already knows how to use at least one kind of scythe, so giving them the two others they might be missing isn't too much. Though maybe the general Simple weapons proficiency would be approriate to remove.
Also, the Grim Reaper is a fighting PrC, and to my knowledge, fighting PrCs almost exclusively give access to all or at least up to Medium armor proficiency, unless they have an AC-increasing ability (Duelist, for example) or clearly wouldn't gain any benefit from wearing such armor anyway (Arcane Archer and their practically required high Dexterity; Eldricht Knight and their spellcasting).
They don't have an HD listed. My thoughts would be either d6 or d8; d10 is just too high, in my opinion. I would personally go for d8.
The HD is in the title line of the table, listed as d10. Personally I wouldn't give d6 as HD to any class whose all (or close to) abilities are centered around being in melee combat. The Blackguard gains a useful ability almost every level, and has minor spellcasting in addition. Similarly, the Duelist enjoys from an ability every level, including much more potent extra damage than the Grim Reaper.
Though if the HD ends up being the only thing keeping the Grim Reaper from being approved, I could live with a d8 (pun intended). If Skill Focus (Intimidate) was added to the prerequisites (not replacing Persuasive), would you consider it okay for d10?