Homebrewed PRC for a melee warlock
Jackinthegreen
Explorer
Copy and paste from the file so we don't have to download? Or is it formatted such that you don't want to break the formatting?
PureGoldx58
First Post
I agree with Dandu, your candy may be delicious, but I'm still not getting in your van.
Nezkrul
First Post
lols, sorry guys, here, let me open up the van for you....
The Brandisher
You invoke destruction and carve death upon your foes. Combining your eldritch power with your skill in martial tactics and weaponry, you cleave a path through your enemies' ranks with gusto.
Prerequisites:
Skills- Concentration 5 ranks and either one of the following: Jump 2 ranks; or Tumble 2 ranks
Base Attack Bonus +5
Feats- Weapon Focus (any melee weapon), Dodge, Combat Reflexes
Invocations- hideous blow least invocation, and any one eldritch essence invocation
Special- Must single-handedly defeat an enemy, of a CR at least equal to her character level, in un-aided single combat.
Hit Die: d8
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier
Class Skills: Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft (any), Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana, the planes, religion), Listen, Perform (weapon drill), Spellcraft, Spot, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Use Rope
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +2 Hideous Brandish, Extra Invocation, Eldritch Power +1
2 +2 +3 +0 +3 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Fighter Bonus Feat
3 +3 +3 +1 +3 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +2
4 +4 +4 +1 +4 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Hideous Flurry
5 +5 +4 +1 +4 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +3
6 +6 +5 +2 +5 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Fighter Bonus Feat
7 +7 +5 +2 +5 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +4
8 +8 +6 +2 +6 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Hideous Swipe
9 +9 +6 +3 +6 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +5
10 +10 +7 +3 +7 Fighter Bonus Feat, Extra Invocation, Hideous Reach, Eldritch Focus
Class Features
Hideous Brandish- Whenever the Branisher uses the hideous blow blast shape invocation, the effect lasts until the start of the Brandisher's next turn. Therefore, any attacks of opportunity she makes include eldritch blast damage, and whatever eldritch essence she may have added to her hideous blow attack on her turn.
Extra Invocation- The Branisher learns a new blast shape or eldritch essence invocation of a grade up to the highest grade of invocations she currently knows.
Fighter Bonus Feat- The Brandisher gains a bonus feat from the list available to fighters, and treats all levels of Brandisher as fighter levels for meeting these feat prerequisites.
Eldritch Power- Whenever the Brandisher uses her eldrtich blast she may choose to either increase the attack roll or the damage roll by the indicated modifier on the table. This bonus only works on the first attack she makes with eldritch blast each round.
Invocations- At each level of Brandisher, except the 1st and 10th level, the character gains new invocations known, increased eldritch blast damage, and an increase in her caster level for invocations, as if she had gained a level in the warlock class.
Hideous Flurry- The Brandisher can now choose to activate her hideous blow blast shape invocation as a full-round action. If she does, the action does not provoke an attack of opportunity, if threatened, and she may make a full attack, with each attack counting as a hideous blow attack. She may include an eldritch essence as normal.
Hideous Swipe- Whenever the Brandisher uses hideous blow and drops the target to -1 hitpoints or lower, she may immediately make another hideous blow attack, using the same attack bonus and eldritch essence, against a different target within reach. This extra attack includes her Eldritch Power bonus (either attack or damage). This extra attack does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Hideous Reach- The Brandisher increases her natural reach by +5 feet whenever she uses her hideous blow blast shape invocation. This increase in reach lasts until the start of the Brandisher's next turn.
Eldritch Focus- Every eldritch blast attack the Brandisher makes now includes her Eldritch Power bonus. She may change the bonus to apply to the attack or damage roll for each attack separately. In addition, the Brandisher's invocations no longer provoke attacks of opportunity if used while the Brandisher is threatened.
The Brandisher
You invoke destruction and carve death upon your foes. Combining your eldritch power with your skill in martial tactics and weaponry, you cleave a path through your enemies' ranks with gusto.
Prerequisites:
Skills- Concentration 5 ranks and either one of the following: Jump 2 ranks; or Tumble 2 ranks
Base Attack Bonus +5
Feats- Weapon Focus (any melee weapon), Dodge, Combat Reflexes
Invocations- hideous blow least invocation, and any one eldritch essence invocation
Special- Must single-handedly defeat an enemy, of a CR at least equal to her character level, in un-aided single combat.
Hit Die: d8
Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier
Class Skills: Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft (any), Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana, the planes, religion), Listen, Perform (weapon drill), Spellcraft, Spot, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Use Rope
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +2 Hideous Brandish, Extra Invocation, Eldritch Power +1
2 +2 +3 +0 +3 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Fighter Bonus Feat
3 +3 +3 +1 +3 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +2
4 +4 +4 +1 +4 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Hideous Flurry
5 +5 +4 +1 +4 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +3
6 +6 +5 +2 +5 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Fighter Bonus Feat
7 +7 +5 +2 +5 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +4
8 +8 +6 +2 +6 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Hideous Swipe
9 +9 +6 +3 +6 +1 level of existing Invocation-using class, Eldritch Power +5
10 +10 +7 +3 +7 Fighter Bonus Feat, Extra Invocation, Hideous Reach, Eldritch Focus
Class Features
Hideous Brandish- Whenever the Branisher uses the hideous blow blast shape invocation, the effect lasts until the start of the Brandisher's next turn. Therefore, any attacks of opportunity she makes include eldritch blast damage, and whatever eldritch essence she may have added to her hideous blow attack on her turn.
Extra Invocation- The Branisher learns a new blast shape or eldritch essence invocation of a grade up to the highest grade of invocations she currently knows.
Fighter Bonus Feat- The Brandisher gains a bonus feat from the list available to fighters, and treats all levels of Brandisher as fighter levels for meeting these feat prerequisites.
Eldritch Power- Whenever the Brandisher uses her eldrtich blast she may choose to either increase the attack roll or the damage roll by the indicated modifier on the table. This bonus only works on the first attack she makes with eldritch blast each round.
Invocations- At each level of Brandisher, except the 1st and 10th level, the character gains new invocations known, increased eldritch blast damage, and an increase in her caster level for invocations, as if she had gained a level in the warlock class.
Hideous Flurry- The Brandisher can now choose to activate her hideous blow blast shape invocation as a full-round action. If she does, the action does not provoke an attack of opportunity, if threatened, and she may make a full attack, with each attack counting as a hideous blow attack. She may include an eldritch essence as normal.
Hideous Swipe- Whenever the Brandisher uses hideous blow and drops the target to -1 hitpoints or lower, she may immediately make another hideous blow attack, using the same attack bonus and eldritch essence, against a different target within reach. This extra attack includes her Eldritch Power bonus (either attack or damage). This extra attack does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Hideous Reach- The Brandisher increases her natural reach by +5 feet whenever she uses her hideous blow blast shape invocation. This increase in reach lasts until the start of the Brandisher's next turn.
Eldritch Focus- Every eldritch blast attack the Brandisher makes now includes her Eldritch Power bonus. She may change the bonus to apply to the attack or damage roll for each attack separately. In addition, the Brandisher's invocations no longer provoke attacks of opportunity if used while the Brandisher is threatened.
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Dandu
First Post
You need to mitigate the AoO triggered by Hideous Blow earlier on, and grant extra attacks earlier as well. I'd just move Hideous Flurry to level 2-4.
You should remove Dodge as a feat pre-requisite. It's a terrible feat. As a replacement, may I suggest Combat Expertise?
You may want to consider adding Bluff as an option in addition to Jump and Tumble. Bluffing in combat to catch your opponent off guard is thematically appropriate.
You should remove Dodge as a feat pre-requisite. It's a terrible feat. As a replacement, may I suggest Combat Expertise?
You may want to consider adding Bluff as an option in addition to Jump and Tumble. Bluffing in combat to catch your opponent off guard is thematically appropriate.
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Jackinthegreen
Explorer
Do keep in mind that Eldritch Glaive, while technically still suffering from triggering AoOs, is already a full-round action to make several (reach) attacks if the Warlock's BAB is high enough and allows for doing AoOs too. So part of your PrC is about lessening the suck of Hideous Blow instead of increasing the awesome of it. Which is fine, but I'd recommend making the parts about lessening its suck come earlier since Eldritch Glaive is also a Least and it is so much better than Hideous Blow that it actually invalidates some of your PrC features.
The Special line seems a bit much. Part of the issue is how the CR system was borked out of the bag, and then power creep set in and made it even worse. I'm not quite sure how one might fix it while still retaining some of the feel. Do keep in mind though that the Duelist class needs no such special requirement, and it's one of the biggest supposed 1-on-1 classes.
Dodge does suck, although I'd be iffy on doing Combat Expertise as a prerequisite. Something like Combat Casting might be more thematically appropriate. Or perhaps make it Skill Focus: Concentration instead since that applies to all Concentration checks in the first place and is only 1 less than Combat Casting. Later on when the class allows for all invocations to be used without triggering an AoO, you might add a feature to let the character make a Concentration check, boosted by Combat Casting if that's the route you want, to do extra damage or perhaps to double the benefit of Eldritch Power.
The Special line seems a bit much. Part of the issue is how the CR system was borked out of the bag, and then power creep set in and made it even worse. I'm not quite sure how one might fix it while still retaining some of the feel. Do keep in mind though that the Duelist class needs no such special requirement, and it's one of the biggest supposed 1-on-1 classes.
Dodge does suck, although I'd be iffy on doing Combat Expertise as a prerequisite. Something like Combat Casting might be more thematically appropriate. Or perhaps make it Skill Focus: Concentration instead since that applies to all Concentration checks in the first place and is only 1 less than Combat Casting. Later on when the class allows for all invocations to be used without triggering an AoO, you might add a feature to let the character make a Concentration check, boosted by Combat Casting if that's the route you want, to do extra damage or perhaps to double the benefit of Eldritch Power.
Nezkrul
First Post
Dandu: how about swapping Swipe with Flurry? that would seem to be a bit better for the idea of the class. In my games, Dodge feat grants a +2 dodge bonus instead of +1. And the Improved Dodge feat makes it a +6 (but requires 17 dex) - I included dodge because its a good feat to have if you need to go into melee a lot, which is what this class does, and it is also a Fighter bonus feat, meaning a player can get dodge without paying a feat tax by simply dipping one or two levels of fighter. Bluffing isn't an option because this guy wants to make full attacks, thats how he gets his extra damage in, whereas bluffing is useful for a rogue.
Jack- Eldritch Glaive is always a full-round action, always provokes an attack of opportunity, can only attack targets that aren't adjacent, and only does eldritch blast damage and not weapon damage in addition. I made this class so that people can be kick ass with just Complete Arcane + PHB; many people don't have access to or allow Dragon Magic. Between CR's 1 and 3, the Warlock should be able to accomplish this special requirement by shooting a goblin, or kobold, or some such enemy with eldritch blast and dropping it, or by using hideous blow and squashing the same in one hit, it was just thrown in there so that you can't just take the class without at least asking the DM "hey did my guy defeat an enemy by himself before now?" Combat Casting/Skill Focus aren't required for this class since he doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity post 4th level.
Jack- Eldritch Glaive is always a full-round action, always provokes an attack of opportunity, can only attack targets that aren't adjacent, and only does eldritch blast damage and not weapon damage in addition. I made this class so that people can be kick ass with just Complete Arcane + PHB; many people don't have access to or allow Dragon Magic. Between CR's 1 and 3, the Warlock should be able to accomplish this special requirement by shooting a goblin, or kobold, or some such enemy with eldritch blast and dropping it, or by using hideous blow and squashing the same in one hit, it was just thrown in there so that you can't just take the class without at least asking the DM "hey did my guy defeat an enemy by himself before now?" Combat Casting/Skill Focus aren't required for this class since he doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity post 4th level.
Jackinthegreen
Explorer
4 levels to not trigger the AoO seems excessive, especially since it's the class's primary shtick. 2nd or 3rd would be more reasonable, and I don't think anyone would bat an eyelash if it appeared at 1st because provoking an AoO to make a single melee attack just plain sucks and shouldn't have been in the original Hideous Blow to begin with. Limiting the character to only a single attack serves much better as a balancer between it and the martial characters who depend on full attacks, though I suspect more min-max types will compare that to a rogue and say even a rogue's Greater TWF full attack with SA on each wouldn't be a problem because damage isn't all that people crack it up to be. And both the warlock and rogue get to do some debuffing, though the rogue usually has to spend feats for the Ambush setups.
Dodge, even at +2, can still be fairly crappy if it's against a single opponent. But at least +2 is relevant since it's seen as 10% instead of 1 with 5%. AC needs to get a bigger boost to be relevant in later levels. If you want to keep dodge as a prereq, might I suggest giving the class an AC bonus equal to its Charisma mod? Limit it by class levels like the Duelist does perhaps. Considering the warlock will probably be sticking to light armor unless it invests in the Battle Caster feat, the extra AC will definitely help it in melee if it has any kind of decent Charisma.
The Improved Dodge feat doesn't seem like it's in any official publications for 3.X. Unless you have a different source than I've found? (Quintessential Fighter seems to have one version, and various wikis have another) Even so, it sounds esoteric enough that you really shouldn't expect us to consider the possibility unless you called it out. If you intended this for your games, then adding your houserules to give some context might work better. Without that, all we have are the regular published rules.
What kind of CR would you assign most goblins and kobolds? A Warrior 1 kobold is CR 1/4, so combat-capable NPC classes would probably have more HP than can be taken down in 1 hit. Maybe 2, or on a crit. For PC classes, I can see taking them down in one hit happening due to the larger CR compared to their HP.
If the player was made aware of the PrC and then asked "Will I be able to get into this? Can you throw a monster at me that I can defeat on my own to get in?" then I can see a reason for the special requirement. You want to get the player more engaged and interested in their character and the story. However, using a metagame concept such as CR can be a bit of an issue. Do what you will with that information.
I can see at least to possibilities with regards to being limited to CArc + PHB:
1. The DM is limiting books because they don't like the power creep from a lot of splats. Maybe they'll accept homebrew, but chances are they won't because homebrew is seen as notoriously unbalanced.
2. The players are limited by physical copies and would like to have more resources but aren't keen on "obtaining" pdfs. They'll allow homebrew stuff though because it's usually not illegal to homebrew, and since everyone has access to a printer it wouldn't be hard to get a physical copy of the class.
Of those, the first is far more likely. Now, if the second one is your campaign, perhaps you should say so?
Dodge, even at +2, can still be fairly crappy if it's against a single opponent. But at least +2 is relevant since it's seen as 10% instead of 1 with 5%. AC needs to get a bigger boost to be relevant in later levels. If you want to keep dodge as a prereq, might I suggest giving the class an AC bonus equal to its Charisma mod? Limit it by class levels like the Duelist does perhaps. Considering the warlock will probably be sticking to light armor unless it invests in the Battle Caster feat, the extra AC will definitely help it in melee if it has any kind of decent Charisma.
The Improved Dodge feat doesn't seem like it's in any official publications for 3.X. Unless you have a different source than I've found? (Quintessential Fighter seems to have one version, and various wikis have another) Even so, it sounds esoteric enough that you really shouldn't expect us to consider the possibility unless you called it out. If you intended this for your games, then adding your houserules to give some context might work better. Without that, all we have are the regular published rules.
What kind of CR would you assign most goblins and kobolds? A Warrior 1 kobold is CR 1/4, so combat-capable NPC classes would probably have more HP than can be taken down in 1 hit. Maybe 2, or on a crit. For PC classes, I can see taking them down in one hit happening due to the larger CR compared to their HP.
If the player was made aware of the PrC and then asked "Will I be able to get into this? Can you throw a monster at me that I can defeat on my own to get in?" then I can see a reason for the special requirement. You want to get the player more engaged and interested in their character and the story. However, using a metagame concept such as CR can be a bit of an issue. Do what you will with that information.
I can see at least to possibilities with regards to being limited to CArc + PHB:
1. The DM is limiting books because they don't like the power creep from a lot of splats. Maybe they'll accept homebrew, but chances are they won't because homebrew is seen as notoriously unbalanced.
2. The players are limited by physical copies and would like to have more resources but aren't keen on "obtaining" pdfs. They'll allow homebrew stuff though because it's usually not illegal to homebrew, and since everyone has access to a printer it wouldn't be hard to get a physical copy of the class.
Of those, the first is far more likely. Now, if the second one is your campaign, perhaps you should say so?
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