Monstrous class - Wartroll - Dazing blow question

[Ragmon]

Hey guys.

Just a quick, yea its rather subjective.

So, my DM allowed me to play a WarTroll, leveling as described in Savage Species. I created the monstrous class and the only problem I am having is with Dazing Blow.

Dazing Blow (Ex): The force of a war troll’s blow can
be overwhelming. If a war troll hits with a weapon or claw
attack, the opponent must make a DC 25 Fortitude save or
be dazed for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.

So my questions are:

• What level should the class gain access to this ability?
• Would this slow down combat and or annoy a DM, making them roll a fort save each time I hit?

EDIT: Oh, I'm very sorry I forgot most of the details... I'll upload the table for the WarTroll class later today, since I'm at work now:

• I as per the Savage Species I broke down the monster to 18 class levels.
  
• I went with an even increase in ability scores and natural armor, instead of going with the spike in stats when the character increases in size.

War Troll
lvl	12	P4	G8	G8	20	6	18	-2	4	14	5	9	20	90ft	60ft
	HD	F	R	W	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	Na	DR	Rg	SR	DV	Scent	Other
1	1	0	2	2	2		2	-2		1				60	10	F
2	1	0	2	2	2	2				1
3	2	0	3	3			2			1	1
4	3	1	3	3	2							1				F+A
5	3	1	3	3			2			1
6	4	1	4	4	2				2	1	1
7	5	1	4	4			2			1		2
8	5	1	4	4	2	2								90	10	A
9	6	2	5	5			2			1	1		11			F
10	7	2	5	5	2					1			12			Large
11	7	2	5	5			2			1		2	13
12	8	2	6	6	2						1		14			A
13	9	3	6	6			2		2	1			15			F
14	9	3	6	6	2	2				1		2	16
15	10	3	7	7			2			1	1		17
16	11	3	7	7	2								18		10	A
17	11	3	7	7			2			1			19
18	12	4	8	8	2					1		2	20			F

Large:

• +4 grapple
• +5 ft reach
• +10 ft speed
• -1 att
• -1 AC

 

[The Crimson Binome]

How many levels are in the class, total?

 

[delericho]

Dazing Blow (Ex): The force of a war troll’s blow can be overwhelming. If a war troll hits with a weapon or claw attack, the opponent must make a DC 25 Fortitude save or be dazed for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.

So my questions are:
What level should the class gain access to this ability?

Possibly as low as first - the effect is actually less powerful than the Monk's Stunning Fist ability, although it is mitigated by being at-will rather than X/day.

Though DC probably needs changed: shouldn't it be 10 + 1/2 your level + your Con modifier?

Would this slow down combat and or annoy a DM, making them roll a fort save each time I hit?

You probably need to ask your DM that. But I'm afraid the answer is "quite possibly."

 

[Ragmon]

I apologize, please read the edited part, in the OP.

 

[Ragmon]

Possibly as low as first - the effect is actually less powerful than the Monk's Stunning Fist ability, although it is mitigated by being at-will rather than X/day.

Though DC probably needs changed: shouldn't it be 10 + 1/2 your level + your Con modifier?

Not to argue but its not even at-will, its on-hit, simply put I wouldn't have to put any effort into it, like announcing it ahead of an attack.

Originally its 10 + 1/2 HD + Con mod.

I'm thinking about how to make this ability not require a Fort save on a hit, but still be as effective as it is.

 

[delericho]

Not to argue but its not even at-will, its on-hit, simply put I wouldn't have to put any effort into it, like announcing it ahead of an attack.

True, but I'm not sure how much difference that makes.

One thing that potentially does, though: the Monk's Stunning Fist is a particularly powerful ability given to one of the weakest classes. In the hands of some other, more powerful, class that ability could well be too powerful.

So maybe the ability does need to be deferred a few (but only a few) levels. Is there a suitable 1st level power you can put there instead?

Originally its 10 + 1/2 HD + Con mod.

Yep, that's what I figured. And that's the formula to use (level = HD).

I'm thinking about how to make this ability not require a Fort save on a hit, but still be as effective as it is.

Funnily enough, if you remove the save it's probably too powerful at any level. Removing someone's actions is pretty huge, and even moreso in the hands of a PC - 3e frequently features 4 PCs vs a single monster, so preventing that monster from taking actions basically ends the fight; conversely, if the monster prevents one PC from acting there are still 3 others who can.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

So that's essentially turning every attack into a Stunning Fist, and you'll probably have... three attacks per round? At earliest, I would say that you can get it at level 12, which is when your BAB would allow you to qualify for the Stunning Fist feat.

It's still probably way too powerful, but given what other sort of shenanigans are going on by that point, I don't think anyone will really notice.

 

[Ragmon]

What would you guys say to this.

Gaining access to Dazing Blow early, just like the monk gains Stunning fist, and would have a fixed about of Dazing blows per day, and at some point the Dazing blows would move into "@will", somewhere around level 12+.

So what do you think?