Another New PrC: Smoke Blade Acolyte

[RickVigorous]

Posted by me on the WotC boards; no flavor text.

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Level	BAB 	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
					
1	+1	+0	+2	+0	Paired kris (light weapons), shield of steel
2	+2	+0	+3	+0	Improved critical
3	+3	+1	+3	+1	Paired kris (improved two-weapon fighting)
4	+4	+1	+4	+1	Improved disarm
5	+5	+1	+4	+1	
6	+6	+2	+5	+2	Share enchantment
7	+7	+2	+5	+2	Unbreakable bond
8	+8	+2	+6	+2	Paired kris (greater two-weapon fighting)
9	+9	+3	+6	+3	
10	+10	+3	+7	+3	Master of blades
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Requirements
To qualify to become a smoke blade acolyte, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Balance: 4 ranks.
Feats: Dodge, Expertise, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (kris).
Tumble: 4 ranks.

Game Rule Information
Smoke blades acolytes have the following game statistics.
Hit Die: d8.

Class Skills
The smoke blade acolyte’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Jump (Str), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the smoke blade acolyte.
Armor and Weapon Proficiency: Smoke blade acolytes are proficient with no additional weapons or armor. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.
The smoke blade acolyte cannot use any of his class abilities if he is wearing armor or carrying a shield.
Paired Kris (Ex): The smoke blade acolyte trains extensively with paired kris. At 1st level, he treats kris as light weapons for the purpose of fighting with two weapons. At 3rd level he gains the effects of the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat when fighting with paired kris. The smoke blade acolyte gains the effects of the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat when fighting with paired kris at 8th level.
Shield of Steel (Ex): When wielding paired kris, the smoke blade acolyte adds his Intelligence modifier as a dodge bonus to his AC.
Improved Critical (Ex): At 3rd level, the smoke blade acolyte gains the Improved Critical feat with the kris. He does not need to meet the prerequisites for this feat.
Improved Disarm (Ex): The smoke blade acolyte gains Improved Disarm as a free feat regardless of whether or not he meets the prerequisites for this feat. This feat can only be used while wielding a kris.
Share Enchantment (Su): The smoke blade acolyte gains the ability to channel enchantments from one of his paired blades to the other. When wielding paired kris, he can use the highest enhancement bonus for all of his attacks. He may also freely combine special abilities possessed by either kris.
Unbreakable Bond (Su): The smoke blade acolyte develops an unnaturally strong bond with his weapons. The smoke blade acolyte can no longer be disarmed.
Master of Blades (Ex): At 10th level, the smoke blade acolyte’s skill with his kris has become almost superhuman. He may make attacks with his off-hand weapon as though it was his primary weapon. He no longer suffers any penalties for fighting with two weapons and makes a maximum of four attacks with each hand. This ability can only be used with paired kris.

Thoughts?

 

[haiiro]

After thoroughly enjoying your Northern Staff Initiate PrC, I figured
I'd check out this one as well. I like it quite a bit overall -- very
stylish, and as with the NSI the abilities are clever and fairly
clearly worded.

Two things I didn't quite follow: how exactly does the share
enhancement ability work? If the SBA had, for example, a +1 kris
and a +5 keen vorpal kris, would he treat both of them as
+5 keen vorpal weapons? As written, that's what I take it to
mean.

The second thing is the master of blades ability: does this allow a
10th level SBA 8 attacks per round? Again, this is how I interpret it.

Can you clarify these two items for me?

 

[RickVigorous]

You've got both right. I'm thinking that I should limit the share enchantment ability to enhancement bonuses or do away with it altogether. My thinking is that it might be hard to find two magical kris that are both at the appropriate power level for a character (IMC, there's no way to purchase magic items beyond potions, scrolls, and a few weak miscellaneous items), especially as the kris (in my opinion, at least) are exotic weapons.

If this isn't the case in your campaign, you might want to drop the ability.

The master of blades ability is similar to the final ability of the tempest, except it also gets rid of the minimum -2/-2 penalty for two-weapon fighting. Yeah, it's a lot of attacks, but that's the point of the class.

 

[haiiro]

You've got both right. I'm thinking that I should limit the share enchantment ability to enhancement bonuses or do away with it altogether. My thinking is that it might be hard to find two magical kris that are both at the appropriate power level for a character (IMC, there's no way to purchase magic items beyond potions, scrolls, and a few weak miscellaneous items), especially as the kris (in my opinion, at least) are exotic weapons.

From a campaign-specific standpoint, then, it might make sense (although if you're DMing, the availability of two appropriate blades is entirely at your discretion). Overall, I think this ability is vastly overpowered; I would probably feel the same even if you limited it to just enhancement bonuses. It's an interesting ability, but I think it would be very hard to balance well.

The master of blades ability is similar to the final ability of the tempest, except it also gets rid of the minimum -2/-2 penalty for two-weapon fighting. Yeah, it's a lot of attacks, but that's the point of the class.

IMO, this ability is also far too powerful. As you said, in your campaign you don't expect a SBA to be able to acquire two powerful blades, but I think in terms of portability the idea of a character getting 8 attacks with burst or keen weapons is too much.

As an alternative 10th level ability, removing all two-weapon penalties and granting an additional off-hand attack might work out just fine, IMO.

 

[RickVigorous]

IMO, this ability is also far too powerful. As you said, in your campaign you don't expect a SBA to be able to acquire two powerful blades, but I think in terms of portability the idea of a character getting 8 attacks with burst or keen weapons is too much.

As an alternative 10th level ability, removing all two-weapon penalties and granting an additional off-hand attack might work out just fine, IMO.

That's exactly what this does, although that's a much better way of wording it. It's like this:
Normal: +20/+15/+10/+5
Two-Weapon: +18/+18/+13/+8/+3
Improved Two-Weapon: +18/+18/+13/+13/+8/+3
Greater Two-Weapon: +18/+18/+13/+13/+8/+8/+3

You're already at 7 attacks. Keep in mind that the final attacks have a low BAB, and aren't likely to hit an enemy with a decent AC. Moreover, this many attacks are possible without taking this PrC (the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat is in Masters of the Wild).

 

[haiiro]

That's exactly what this does, although that's a much better way of wording it.

I'm glad you like the wording...since my point was pretty much off the mark apart from that (see below).

You're already at 7 attacks. Keep in mind that the final attacks have a low BAB, and aren't likely to hit an enemy with a decent AC. Moreover, this many attacks are possible without taking this PrC (the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat is in Masters of the Wild).

You're absolutely right about GTWF and the number of iterative attacks, as well as the fact that you can basically work your way up to the master of blades ability through feats. I still can't get past thinking the 8th attack is excessive, but that's probably just a personal preference.

Chalk it up to my being tired.

 

[RickVigorous]

One thing I probably should have included with the PrC description is stats for a kris.

Kris: Exotic melee weapon, Size Small, Cost 12 gp, Damage 1d6, Critical 18-20/x2, Weight 1 lb., Type S.

Basically, it's a slashing short sword with slightly improved critical capability. Of course, it also costs a feat to use.